Nitrogen Metabolism In Vivo

In vivo 15N MRS has made a unique contribution to kinetic studies of the individual pathways that control the flux of glutamate in rat brain. Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter and is also a component of intermediary metabolism. Current evidence strongly suggests that the metabolic and neurotransmitter pools of glutamate are partly recycled through the glutamine/glutamate cycle, but other pathways such as transamination from leucine contribute to glutamate synthesis.