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NEUROLOGY 1985;35:180
© 1985 American Academy of Neurology

Brain {gamma}-aminobutyric acid deficiency in dialysis encephalopathy

Vincent P. Sweeney, MD, Thomas L. Perry, MD, John D. E. Price, MD, Charles E. Reeve, MD, William J. Godolphin, PhD and Stephen J. Kish, PhD

Department of Medicine, Divisions of Neurology (Dr. Sweeney) and Nephrology (Drs. Price and Reeve), Department of Pharmacology (Dr. Perry), and Department of Pathology (Dr. Godolphin), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; and the Human Brain Laboratory, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry (Dr. Kish), Toronto, Canada.

We measured levels of {gamma}-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the CSF and in the autopsied brain of patients with dialysis encephalopathy. GABA concentrations were low in the CSF of three of five living patients. Mean GABA content was reduced by 30 to 50% in five brain regions (frontal, occipital, and cerebellar cortex, caudate nucleus, and medial dorsal thalamus) in five fatal cases. GABA content was normal in brain regions where GABA is characteristically reduced in Huntington's disease. Choline acetyltransferase activity was diminished (by 25 to 35%) in cerebral cortex of the dialysis encephalopathy patients.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Sweeney, Division of Neurology, 222–2775 Heather Street, Vancouver, BC V5Z 3J5 Canada.

Supported by grants from the B. C. Health Care Research Foundation (V. P. S.), from the Medical Research Council of Canada and the Huntington Society of Canada (T. L. P.), and from the Canadian Legion Fund, B. C. Branch (J. D. E. P.), Stephen J. Kish is a Career Scientist of the Ministry of Health, Ontario.

Accepted for publication May 15, 1984.






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