RESEARCH ARTICLE
Quantification of Amino Acid Neurotransmitters in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Patients with Neurocysticercosis
José Augusto Camargo*, Paulo Henrique Ferreira Bertolucci*
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2015Volume: 9
First Page: 15
Last Page: 20
Publisher ID: TONEUJ-9-15
DOI: 10.2174/1874205X01509010015
Article History:
Received Date: 29/3/2015Revision Received Date: 1/4/2015
Acceptance Date: 11/5/2015
Electronic publication date: 23/6/2015
Collection year: 2015
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background :
Neurocysticercosis is a parasitic disease that affects the central nervous system. Its main clinical manifestations are epileptic seizures. The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between neurotransmitter concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and the different evolutive forms of neurocysticercosis with or without seizures.
Methods :
Neurotransmitter concentrations (Aspartate, Glutamate, GABA, Glutamine, Glycine, Taurine) were determined in CSF samples from 42 patients with neurocysticercosis divided into patients with the active cystic form (n = 24, 12 with and 12 without seizures) and patients with calcified form (n = 18, 12 with and 6 without seizures), and a control group consisting of 59 healthy subjects.
Results :
Alterations in amino acid concentration were observed in all patients with neurocysticercosis.
Conclusion :
We conclude that disturbances in amino acid metabolism accompany the presentation of neurocysticercosis. Replacement of the terms inactive cyst by reactive inactive cyst and calcification by reactive calcification is suggested.
