Role of L-glutamate in aggression

L-glutamate is one of major excitatory transmitters (along with aspartic, kainate acids and glycine) in the central nervous system and/or the peripheral nervous system. It mediates interaction through the stimulation of various ionotropic receptors families (ligand gated cation channels) and metabotropic receptor families (G-protein coupled). In this review, we describe the molecular composition of these glutamatergic receptors and discuss their neuropharmacology, particularly with respect to their roles in animal social behaviors and, particularly, in aggression. It is also known, that during aggression different interactions occur in the nervous system among glutamate, serotonin, vasopressin, oxytocin, dopamine, GABA and steroid receptors.