Title: glutamate-induced excitotoxicity
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - glutamate-induced excitotoxicity
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.11793
Status: current

Definition
Form of excitotoxicity where excess glutamate release in synapses (glutamatergic storm) leads to overstimulation, followed by excess cellular calcium uptake, cytotoxicity and apoptosis.

Notes
1) N-methyl-D-aspartic acid, kainic acid, and other ligands of the glutamate receptor induce this effect.
2) Excitotoxicity may occur after acute neuronalischemia and damage. It is believed to be a factor in chronic diseases of the nervous system, and in some withdrawal phenomena.

Related Terms
- N-methyl-D-aspartic acid: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11869
- excitotoxicity: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11766
- glutamate: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11792
- kainic acid: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11842
- nervous system: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11916
- synapses: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12109
- withdrawal: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12181

Source
- PAC, 2015, 87, 841. 'IUPAC Glossary of terms used in neurotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2015)' on page 871 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-0103)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11793/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11793/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11793/xml

Citation: Citation: 'glutamate-induced excitotoxicity' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.11793
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Accessed: 2026-05-15T01:28:02+00:00