A cross-sectional study of the relationship between cognitive function and L-glutamate levels in psychiatric disorders.

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K17091
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 52030:Psychiatry-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokushima
• Principal Investigator: WATANABE Shinya 徳島大学, 大学院医歯薬学研究部(医学域), 助教 (90563825)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: L-グルタミン酸 / うつ病

Outline of Final Research Achievements

①We assessed the effects of measurement processing conditions on plasma L-glutamate levels in non-psychiatric healthy subjects. We found that the plasma L-glutamate levels were affected by the incubation temperature before centrifugation for obtaining plasma.
②We compared plasma L-glutamate levels among three groups: healthy subjects, untreated depression, and post-treatment depression using an enzymatic L-glutamate assay kit. We found that plasma glutamate levels were significantly higher in the untreated depression group than in the healthy subjects group and tended to be decreased after treatment with antidepressants in the patients groups.

Free Research Field

精神医学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究において得られた血漿中のL-グルタミン酸濃度が測定条件による影響を受けるという知見は、今後のL-グルタミン酸に関する研究の方法論に大きな示唆を与えるものであると思われる。また、既報のグルタミン酸に注目した研究は、グルタミン酸の光学異性体のL体とD体を区別しない総和量で検討されてきたが、今回、研究代表者が見出したL-グルタミン酸単独の濃度とうつ病との関連は新規の知見として、うつ病の病態解明に大きく寄与するものであると考えられる。