Actions of Riluzole on Glast and GLT 1 Transporters in Rat Migraine Model

Riluzole exerts a neuroprotective effect through different mechanisms including action on glutamatergic transmission. We investigated whether this drug affect glutamate transporter mediated uptake expressing the rat glutamate transporters GLAST, GLT. We found that riluzole significantly increased glutamate uptake in a dose-dependent manner. This may facilitate the buffering of excessive extra cellular glutamate under pathological conditions suggesting that riluzole’s neuroprotective action might be mediated by its activating effect on glutamate uptake.