Ibotenic acid

Ibotenic acid is a conformationally restricted analogue of glutamic acid which acts as a potent Glu agonist. Ibotenic acid has been utilized in various studies as a useful tool in morphological and functional analysis of central neuronal systems, in vivo and in vitro. In rat brains, injections of Ibotenic acid produced a local, marked disappearance of nerve cells in various regions of the brain. Additionally, compared to kainic acid, in vitro experiments on striatal synaptosomal and membrane preparations indicated that Ibotenic acid differs by lacking a signifiant inhibitory effect on high affinity glutamate uptake while having low affinity for other kainic binding sites. Furthermore, Ibotenic acid was noted to not interfere with radioligand binding. Other studies indicated that as compared to kainaic acid, ibotenic acid is less potent than kainic acid in hippocampal neuronal cell degredation. Ibotenic acid was also noted to cause degradation of granule cells and CA3/CA4 pyramids to an equal extent.