F. Ikegami et al., INTERACTION OF SOME PLANT HETEROCYCLIC BETA-SUBSTITUTED ALANINES WITHRAT-BRAIN N-METHYL-D-ASPARTATE (NMDA) RECEPTORS, Biological & pharmaceutical bulletin, 18(2), 1995, pp. 360-362
The neuropharmacological actions of some plant heterocyclic beta-subst
ituted alanines on rat brain N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors wer
e studied. Of the compounds tested, 3-N-oxalyl-L-2,3-diaminopropanoic
acid (beta-ODAP), the causal agent of human neurolathyrism, exhibited
an inhibitory activity on the NMDA receptor binding assay at a relativ
ely high concentration (IC50: 4.7 x 10(-5) hr). The biochemical precur
sor of beta-ODAP, beta-(isoxazolin-5-on-2-yl)-L-alanine (BIA) was inac
tive in this assay. These results suggest that beta-ODAP, the neurotox
in of Lathyrus sativus, in addition to its excitatory action on lpha-a
mino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisosazole-4-propanoic acid (AMPA) receptors, al
so has neurotoxic potential through its action on NMDA receptors.