title: Effect of delta-aminolevulinic acid treatment on N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor at different ages in the rat brain.
abstract: We report here the effects of the chronic treatment with the oxidant agent delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) on the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in 4-, 12- and 24-month-old male Wistar rats. ALA was administered daily for 15 days (40 mg/kg i.p). The study was performed by membrane homogenate binding and autoradiography, using tritiated 5-methyl-10, 11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo(a,d)cycloheptan-5,10-imine maleate ([3H]MK-801). [3H]MK-801 binding was significantly decreased in most areas studied (cortex and hippocampus) at all ages in treated rats with respect to their controls. Furthermore, Western blot assays were performed using antibodies against the NMDA receptor NR2A subunit, which is widely distributed in the brain, mainly in cortex and hippocampus. In cortex but not in hippocampus, the ALA treatment induced significant decreases in the amounts of NR2A subunit in 12- and 24-month-old animals. We conclude that chronic treatment with ALA is able to induce NMDA receptor decreases in an age-independent way and that NR2A subunit seems to be involved in these decreases in cerebral cortex, but not in the other structures studied.
authors.affiliation: Departamento Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de León, 24007 León, Spain.
authors.forename: Beatriz Martínez
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Villayandre
authors.forename: Miguel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Paniagua
authors.forename: Arsenio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández-López
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Calvo
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001345:Autoradiography; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development*; D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D008566:Membranes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; C120997:NR2A NMDA receptor; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate; D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid