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GABA-transaminase and glutamic acid decarboxylase changes in the brain of rats treated with pyrithiamine

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Abstract

Pyrithiamine, a thiamine phosphokinase inhibitor, was fed to rats on a thiamine-deficient diet, producing weight loss, ataxia and loss of righting reflex in 10 days. Some rats were then sacrificed; others were returned to a normal diet, to be sacrificed only when their weight had returned to pre-experimental levels. Rats were sacrificed for assay of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activities in homogenates of eight brain regions or were perfused for γ-aminobutyric acid transaminase (GABA-T) histochemistry. GAD activity was significantly reduced in symptomatic rats in the thalamus > cerebellum > midbrain > pons/medulla. GABA-T staining was similarly reduced, with greatest losses in the thalamus > inferior colliculus > pons > medulla. ChAT activity was not significantly altered in any brain area. Following return to a normal diet, GAD activity was significantly recovered in all areas except the thalamus. GABA-T staining recovered, at least partially, in all areas affected.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kinsmen Laboratory of Neurological Research Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, 2255 Wesbrook Mall, V6T 1W5, Vancouver, B.C., Canada

    Sharlene G. Thompson &  Edith G. McGeer

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  1. Sharlene G. Thompson
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  2. Edith G. McGeer
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Thompson, S.G., McGeer, E.G. GABA-transaminase and glutamic acid decarboxylase changes in the brain of rats treated with pyrithiamine. Neurochem Res 10, 1653–1660 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988607

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