Chronic infusion of L-glutamate causes neurotoxicity in rat striatum.

Chronic infusion of a high dose of monosodium glutamate (approximately 8 nmol/min) into the rat left striatum, over a period of 1 week, caused degeneration of striatal neurones. This was accompanied by a significant loss of neurochemical markers for both GABAergic and cholinergic interneurones. These results indicate that the sustained presence of elevated concentrations of glutamate will, in time, give rise to changes similar to those seen in human neurodegenerative disorders, such as Huntington's disease.