Effects of ageing on the content in sulfur-containing amino acids in rat brain

Benedetti, Μ. Strolin; Russo, Alessandra; Marrari, P.; Dostert, P.

doi:10.1007/bf01250705

Cited by 37 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The changes in concentrations of aspartic acid observed with age in the present study are in reasonable agreement with those noted in two previous studies where male Wistar rats of the same breeder were used (Strolin Benedetti et al, 1990aBenedetti et al, , 1991. In contrast, no age-related statistically significant decrease in glutamic acid concentrations was observed in the present work, in which rats were not injected with 3-mercaptopropionic acid prior to decapitation, as was done in the two previous studies where GABA levels had to be measured.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Effect of ageing on tissue levels of amino acids involved in the nitric oxide pathway in rat brain

Benedetti

Dostert

Marrari

et al. 1993

J. Neural Transmission

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Nitric oxide (NO) and citrulline are produced from L-arginine by the action of NO synthase after activation of excitatory amino acid receptors. In addition to its role in neurodegeneration, there is convincing evidence that NO is also involved in long-term potentiation, a cellular analog of learning and memory in the mammalian nervous system. In the present study, concentrations of L-arginine, citrulline, aspartic acid and glutamic acid were determined in various brain regions of young and old rats. The aim was to examine whether changes in brain concentrations of these amino acids might be indicative of a possible decrease in NO production with ageing, in relation with the well-established decline of cognitive function. Brain aspartic acid, citrulline and L-arginine concentrations were found to be lower in old rats compared to young animals, although the decrease did not always reach statistical significance. In contrast, no change in glutamic acid levels was found. In all brain structures of young and old rats, concentrations of L-arginine were higher than the concentration for NO synthase to function at maximum velocity in the rat brain. Therefore, the decrease in citrulline concentrations found in some brain regions of old rats might be seen, at least partly, as a reflection of a lower production of NO with ageing, although further work is clearly needed to ascertain a decrease in rat brain NO synthase activity with age.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Effect of ageing on tissue levels of amino acids involved in the nitric oxide pathway in rat brain

Benedetti

Dostert

Marrari

et al. 1993

J. Neural Transmission

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“…Aging has been shown to reduce striatal taurine concentrations and taurine content in other tissues that contain catecholamines (Dawson and Wallace, 1992;Dawson et al, 1999a,b;Strolin Benedetti et al, 1991). Furthermore, systemic administration of L-dopa to rodents produces reductions in the tissue content of taurine (Diederich et al, 1997;Tyce and Owen, 1973) suggesting that taurine may be used in vivo to scavenge reactive quinones derived from L-dopa.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Taurine inhibition of metal-stimulated catecholamine oxidation

et al. 2000

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Taurine is an abundant amino acid found in mammalian tissues and it has been suggested to have cytoprotective functions. The aim of the present study was to determine if taurine had the potential to reduce oxidative stress associated with metal-stimulated catecholamine oxidation. Taurine and structural analogs of taurine were tested for their ability to inhibit metal-stimulated quinone formation from dopamine or L-dopa. Oxidative damage to proteins and lipids were also assessed in vitro and the effects of taurine were determined. Taurine (20 mM) was found to decrease significantly ferric iron (50-500 microM)- and manganese (10 microM)-stimulated L-dopa or dopamine oxidation. Taurine had no effect on zinc-induced dopamine oxidation and slightly potentiated copper- and NaIO(4)-stimulated quinone formation. Ferric iron-stimulated lipid peroxidation was not affected by taurine (1-20 mM). Protein carbonyl formation induced by ferric iron (500 microM) and L-dopa (500 microM) was significantly reduced by 10 mM taurine. The cytotoxicity of L-dopa (250 microM) and ferric chloride (75 microM) to LLC-PK(1) cells was attenuated by 10 mM taurine or hypotaurine. Homotaurine alone stimulated L-dopa oxidation and potentiated the cytotoxic effects of ferric iron. Homotaurine was found to be cytotoxic when combined with L-dopa or L-dopa/iron. In contrast, hypotaurine inhibited quinone formation and protected LLC-PK(1) cells. These studies suggest that taurine may exhibit cytoprotective effects against the oxidation products of catecholamines by acting as a scavenger for free radicals and cytotoxic quinones.

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“…A significant correlation between the striatal content of taurine and DA in rats has been reported, suggesting that taurine and DA levels could be physiologically linked [31]. Changes in CNS amino acids in rodent models of aging include a significant decline in glutamate and taurine in striatal specific brain regions [32,33]. However, in this study glutamate levels were uniformly increased in all brain regions from hemizygous VMAT2-deficient mice of all ages; interestingly, it is widely accepted that following DA-depletion of the striatum, cortico-striatal glutamatergic afferents become hyperactive, over-stimulating the so-called 'indirect' striatal pathway, which is thought to play a part in the motoric symptoms of PD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

A Metabolomic Study of Brain Tissues from Aged Mice with Low Expression of the Vesicular Monoamine Transporter 2 (VMAT2) Gene

et al. 2007

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The vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) sequesters monoamines into synaptic vesicles in preparation for neurotransmission. Samples of cerebellum, cortex, hippocampus, substantia nigra and striatum from VMAT2-deficient mice were compared to age-matched control mice. Multivariate statistical analyses of (1)H NMR spectral profiles separated VMAT2-deficient mice from controls for all five brain regions. Although the data show that metabolic alterations are region- and age-specific, in general, analyses indicated decreases in the concentrations of taurine and creatine/phosphocreatine and increases in glutamate and N-acetyl aspartate in VMAT2-deficient mouse brain tissues. This study demonstrates the efficacy of metabolomics as a functional genomics phenotyping tool for mouse models of neurological disorders, and indicates that mild reductions in the expression of VMAT2 affect normal brain metabolism.

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Effects of ageing on the content in sulfur-containing amino acids in rat brain

Cited by 37 publications

References 45 publications

Effect of ageing on tissue levels of amino acids involved in the nitric oxide pathway in rat brain

Effect of ageing on tissue levels of amino acids involved in the nitric oxide pathway in rat brain

Taurine inhibition of metal-stimulated catecholamine oxidation

A Metabolomic Study of Brain Tissues from Aged Mice with Low Expression of the Vesicular Monoamine Transporter 2 (VMAT2) Gene

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