title: A gas chromatographic method for the determination of N-acetyl-L-aspartic acid, N-acetyl-alpha-aspartylglutamic acid and beta-citryl-L-glutamic acid and their distributions in the brain and other organs of various species of animals.
abstract: A simple and sensitive gas-chromatographic method for the determination of N-acetyl-L-aspartic acid (NA-Asp), N-acetyl-alpha-aspartylglutamic acid (NA-Asp-Glu) and beta-citryl-L-glutamic acid (beta-CG) was developed. The organ, regional and phylogenetic distributions of these compounds were studied. NA-Asp and NA-Asp-Glu were highly concentrated in nervous tissue, and less than 1% of the amounts in the nervous tissues were found in non-nervous organs. These two compounds showed a reciprocal relationship in their regional distribution in mature brains, but such a relationship was not evident or was even reversed in immature brains. The two compounds also showed different developmental changes in different regions of the brain. Fish brain contained a relatively high concentration of NA-Asp, but only a trace amount of NA-Asp-Glu. By contrast, a 10 times higher concentration of NA-Asp-Glu than NA-Asp was found in frog brain. Reptilian brain contained similar amounts of each compound. Avian and mammalian brain had NA-Asp at a roughly 10 times higher concentration than NA-Asp-Glu. beta-CG occurred at the highest concentration in the immature brain of rat and guinea pig, but disappeared in the mature brains. The adult frog brain, however, contained a large amount of beta-CG. In the adult rat, testis contained the highest concentration of beta-CG.
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D002347:Carps; D002645:Chickens; D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000379:methods; D002951:Citrates / Q000032:analysis*; D010856:Columbidae; D004151:Dipeptides / Q000032:analysis*; D005971:Glutamates / Q000032:analysis*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D008297:Male; D009420:Nervous System / Q000032:analysis; D011817:Rabbits; D011898:Ranidae; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity; D014426:Turtles
chemical_list: D002951:Citrates; D004151:Dipeptides; D005971:Glutamates; C027172:isospaglumic acid; D001224:Aspartic Acid; C018491:beta-citrylglutamic acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate