[Effect of sodium valproate on the mediator amino acid content in the rat brain]

The effect of sodium valproate (200 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) on the content of transmitter amino acids in the large hemispheres, hippocamp and thalamus was studied in experiments on rats. Thirty minutes after the injection no appreciable shifts in the content of GABA or glutamate were recorded in homogenates of these structures. However, this does not exclude the effect of sodium valproate in the dose mentioned on the GABA system at the expense of changes in the compartmentation of GABA. The concentration of aspartate was found to be significantly decreased in all the brain structures under study. It is suggested that these changes in the aspartate system might be related to the realization of the tranquilizing effect of valproate since they coincided in time with the behavioral effects of the drug.