Comparison of the in vitro and in vivo neurotoxicity of three new sources of kainic acid

Historically, all commercially available kainic acid has been derived from a single biological source using a consistent method of extraction and purification. That source became unavailable in 1995. Recently, three new commercial suppliers of kainic acid have made the product available, but the sou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Amino acids Vol. 23; no. 1-3; pp. 45 - 54
Main Authors:	Tasker, R A R, Bernard, P B, Doucette, T A, Kerr, D S, Zabidin, Y, Alvarez-Fernandez, L, Fernandez-Maroto, B, Fernandez-Sanchez, M T, Novelli, A
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Austria 01-01-2002
Subjects:	6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione - pharmacology Animals Calcium Channel Blockers - pharmacology Cells, Cultured Dose-Response Relationship, Drug Electrophysiology Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists - isolation & purification Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists - toxicity Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists - pharmacology Glucose - metabolism Hippocampus - cytology Hippocampus - metabolism Humans In Vitro Techniques Kainic Acid - isolation & purification Kainic Acid - toxicity Male Mice Neurons - cytology Neurons - drug effects Neurons - metabolism Neurotoxins - isolation & purification Neurotoxins - toxicity Nifedipine - pharmacology Rats Rats, Sprague-Dawley
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Summary:	Historically, all commercially available kainic acid has been derived from a single biological source using a consistent method of extraction and purification. That source became unavailable in 1995. Recently, three new commercial suppliers of kainic acid have made the product available, but the source of the material and the purification processes used differ. Our objective was to systematically compare the response produced by each of these new sources of kainic acid using three established neurobiological techniques: neuronal cell culture, hippocampal slice electrophysiology, and whole animal behavioural toxicity. Results in all three systems indicated no overall differences between the three formulations, although studies in both cerebellar neuron cultures and whole animal toxicity testing in mice, revealed some significant differences that may imply subtle differences in receptor selectivity and/or potency. We conclude that all three sources of kainic acid are viable alternatives to traditional kainate but they may not be identical. Until further information becomes available researchers may want to avoid using the three formulations interchangeably, and take note of the source of kainic acid when evaluating literature describing results from other laboratories.
ISSN:	0939-4451 1438-2199
DOI:	10.1007/s00726-001-0108-4