Brain neurotransmitters in glycine encephalopathy

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Abstract
We measured neurotransmitter Marchkers in autopsied brain of infants with glycine encephalopathy (GE). Because patients with GE develop intractable seizures, special attention was devoted to those neurotransmitter systems implicated in human epilepsy. Mean levels of glycine in the frontal cortex of GE patients were three times higher than control values. No abnormalities were observed for concentrations of gamma‐aminobutyrici acid (and related receptors), other major neurotransmitter amino compounds, or activities of cholineacetyl‐transferase and aspartate aminotransferase. Mean acetylcholinesterase activity was significantly elevated by 46%. As experimental data suggest, glycine Marchkedly potentiates the action of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamic acid. To the extent that the brain seizures in patients with GE can be explained by this mechanism, pharmacotherapy with excitatory amino acid antagonists may represent a new approach to the treatment of GE.