Inhibitors of GABA metabolism: implications for Huntington's disease.

Stereotaxic injection of kainic acid into rat striatum produces neuronal degeneration and neurochemical alterations resembling Huntington's disease (HD). Since correction of the deficiency in gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in HD may be of therapeutic value, the efficacy of drugs that inhibit the GABA-degrading enzyme (GABA-T) in elevating the levels of GABA has been examined in the animal model for HD. High doses of di-N-propylacetic acid only partially correct the GABA deficiency in the striatum, whereas low doses of gamma-acetylenic GABA, a specific irreversible inhibitor of GABA-T, completely restore the levels of GABA in striatum and substantia nigra.