L-Allylglycine

L-Allylglycine is a potent inhibitor of the synthetic enzyme for GABA, glutamic acid decarboxylase.(In Vitro):L-allylglycine inhibits glutamic acid decarboxylase(GAD) only when used at high concentrations (1-80 mM). The more potent in vivo activity can be attributed to metabolic conversion of L-allylglycine to 2-keto-4-pentanoic acid, a more potent convulsant and GAD inhibitor.(In Vivo):The stereoisomers of allylglycine were injected into the posterior hypothalamus at a site also shown to be reactive to bicuculline. Injection of L-allylglycine but not D-allylglycine caused substantial increases in heart rate but only slight increases in blood pressure.