title: Differences in arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase activity between inflammatory disease-susceptible Lewis and -resistant Fischer rats.
abstract: Lewis (LEW/N) and Fischer (F344/N) rats are histocompatible inbred strains characterized, respectively, by susceptibility and resistance to inflammatory disease. The susceptibility of LEW/N rats to inflammation has been associated with deficient corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), ACTH, and corticosterone responses to inflammatory stimuli, specifically attributed to a global impairment in hypothalamic CRH neuron function. In contrast to the LEW/N rats, F344/N rats demonstrate an intact hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Melatonin, a neurohormone initially isolated in the pineal gland, has been implicated with inhibition of the HPA axis. To investigate melatonin synthesis and secretion in LEW/N and F344/N rats, we examined the diurnal activity of pineal arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (NAT1), the rate-limiting enzyme in melatonin biosynthesis, which demonstrates circadian rhythmicity, as well as the diurnal levels of serum melatonin, in both strains. Arylamine N-acetyltransferase (NAT2), a related enzyme activity, thought not to be regulated in a circadian manner, was examined as a control of NAT1 activity. Pineal NAT1 activity peak was observed later and reached significantly higher levels in LEW/N than in F344/N rats. Serum melatonin levels reflected the circadian pattern of the NAT1 activity, without, however, showing any quantitative differences between the two strains. Time-course of pineal NAT1 activity response to beta-adrenergic stimulation was parallel in the two rat strains, whereas the magnitude of the response as greater in LEW/N than in F344/N rats. No circadian or major quantitative differences in NAT2 activity were found between the two strains. Size-exclusion HPLC chromatograms of NAT1 activity revealed similar patterns in both rat strains.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Developmental Endocrinology Branch, NICHD, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mastorakos
authors.forename: V K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Patchev
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Chader
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Chrousos
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Gaudet
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D005260:Female; D007249:Inflammation / Q000378:metabolism*; D010870:Pineal Gland / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D013997:Time Factors; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase