Brain Amino Acids Measured by Intracerebral Dialysis in Portacaval Shunted Rats |
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| Authors: | Ulf Tossman Siw Eriksson ers Delin Lars Hagenfeldt David Law Urban Ungerstedt |
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| Institution: | Department of Pharmacology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm;the Departments of Medicine and Clinical Physiology, Huddinge University Hospital, Huddinge;and the Departments of Surgery and Clinical Chemistry, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden |
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| Abstract: | Changes in brain amino acid uptake and metabolism have been proposed as a possible etiological factor in hepatic encephalopathy. By use of a brain dialysis technique (a thin tube implanted in the brain of the living animal), the extracellular amino acid concentrations in the striatum of portacaval (PC)-shunted and sham-operated rats were measured. Leucine, phenylalanine, methionine, and glutamine were increased two- to sixfold in the PC-shunted rats, whilst no changes were seen for GABA, valine, glutamate, or isoleucine, confirming previous reports. Aspartate levels were 350% higher in the PC-shunted rats, and this rise, as well as that of phenylalanine, was significantly correlated with the lower motor activity observed in the PC-shunted rats, suggesting a possible importance of these amino acids in the etiology of hepatic encephalopathy. The amino acid concentrations measured in whole blood demonstrated the well-known pattern of low levels of branched-chain amino acids and increased concentrations of phenylalanine, glutamine, and histidine. |
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| Keywords: | Hepatic encephalopathy Amino acids Extracellular Brain dialysis |
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