Treatment of neurological diseases by increasing brain concentrations of kynurenic acid

摘要

Neurological diseases such as Huntington's caused by the toxic effects of excetatory amino acids are alleviated by administering metabolic precursors of kynurenic acid to afflicted individuals. These metabolic precursors include kynurenine and tryptophan. Since the amount of kynurenic acid in Huntington's Disease patient's brains is less than that in normal individuals and such decrease is associated with the lesions found in the formation of the lesions. This occurs because kynurenic acid is an inhibitor of excitatory amino acid interactions at their receptors.