Neurotoxicity in Gulf War Illness and the potential role of glutamate

Shortly after the Gulf War in 1990-1991, service men and women began reporting multiple symptoms ranging from persistent headaches, widespread pain, chronic fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, mood dysregulation, gastrointestinal issues, skin abnormalities, and respiratory problems. This prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to initially classify the disorder as chronic multi-symptom illness (CMI), where it later became known as Gulf War Illness (GWI). Researchers and healthcare professionals since the early 1990s have been working extensively on alleviating the symptoms expressed in GWI as well as attempting to understand the mechanisms behind this illness. Scientific literature as well as reports from GWI veterans indicate that the toxic exposures during deployment may be responsible for the symptoms. These toxic exposures potentially include nerve agents, pyridostigmine bromide pills, pesticides, munitions with depleted uranium, and burning oil well fires. GWI currently affects 25-32 % of the 697,000 American troops who were stationed overseas during the short conflict. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on neurotoxic exposures in Gulf War Illness, to explain how these exposures may lead to glutamate excitotoxicity, which has been implicated in the majority of the symptoms characterizing the illness, and to propose a novel treatment option for GWI.