L-2-Hydroxyglutarate aciduria (L-2-HGA) is an autosomal recessive neurometabolic disorder caused by a mutation in the L-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase (L2HGDH) gene. In this study, we generated L2hgdh knockout (KO) mice and observed a robust increase of L-2-hydroxyglutarate (L-2-HG) levels in multiple tissues. The highest levels of L-2-HG were observed in the brain and testis, with a corresponding increase in histone methylation in these tissues. L2hgdh KO mice exhibit white matter abnormalities, extensive gliosis, microglia-mediated neuroinflammation, and an expansion of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs). Moreover, L2hgdh deficiency leads to impaired adult hippocampal neurogenesis and late-onset neurodegeneration in mouse brains. Our data provide in vivo evidence that L2hgdh mutation leads to L-2-HG accumulation, leukoencephalopathy, and neurodegeneration in mice, thereby offering new insights into the pathophysiology of L-2-HGA in humans.KEYWORDS L2HGDH, 2-HG, leukoencephalopathy, gliosis, neurodegeneration T he rare, autosomal recessive neurometabolic disorders D-2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria (D-2-HGA) and L-2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria (L-2-HGA) are characterized by the accumulation of D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2-HG) and L-2-hydroxyglutarate (L-2-HG), respectively, in body fluids. Genetic characterization has shown that 50% of the D-2-HGA population and the majority of L-2-HGA patients harbor pathogenic mutations in D2HGDH and L2HGDH genes, respectively (1-3). The other half of D-2-HGA patients have a gain-of-function mutation in isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) at the residue of R140 (R140Q), which leads to abnormally high accumulation of D-2-HG (4). Based on phenotypic severity in patients, D-2-HGA is classified as mild type I (D2HGDH mutation) and severe type II (IDH2 mutation) (4, 5). Of note, 2-HG concentrations are 2-to 8-fold higher for type II D-2-HGA than type I D-2-HGA patients (4, 6, 7), suggesting that