Modulation of glutamate transport and receptor binding by glutamate receptor antagonists in EAE rat brain

The etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) is currently unknown. However, one potential mechanism involved in the disease may be excitotoxicity. The elevation of glutamate in cerebrospinal fluid, as well as changes in the expression of glutamate receptors (iGluRs and mGluRs) and excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs), have been observed in the brains of MS patients and animals subjected to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), which is the predominant animal model used to investigate the pathophysiology of MS. In the present paper, the effects of glutamatergic receptor antagonists, including amantadine, memantine, LY 367583, and MPEP, on glutamate transport, the expression of mRNA of glutamate transporters (EAATs), the kinetic parameters of ligand binding to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, and the morphology of nerve endings in EAE rat brains were investigated. The extracellular level of glutamate in the brain is primarily regulated by astrocytic glutamate transporter 1 (GLT-1) and glutamate-aspartate transporter (GLAST). Excess glutamate is taken up from the synaptic space and metabolized by astrocytes. Thus, the extracellular level of glutamate decreases, which protects neurons from excitotoxicity. Our investigations showed changes in the expression of EAAT mRNA, glutamate transport (uptake and release) by synaptosomal and glial plasmalemmal vesicle fractions, and ligand binding to NMDA receptors; these effects were partially reversed after the treatment of EAE rats with the NMDA antagonists amantadine and memantine. The antagonists of group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), including LY 367385 and MPEP, did not exert any effect on the examined parameters. These results suggest that disturbances in these mechanisms may play a role in the processes associated with glutamate excitotoxicity and the progressive brain damage in EAE.