title: Effects of β-alanine administration on selected parameters of oxidative stress and phosphoryltransfer network in cerebral cortex and cerebellum of rats.
abstract: β-Alanine is a β-amino acid derivative of the degradation of pyrimidine uracil and precursor of the oxidative substrate acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA). The accumulation of β-alanine occurs in β-alaninemia, an inborn error of metabolism. Patients with β-alaninemia may develop neurological abnormalities whose mechanisms are far from being understood. In this study we evaluated the effects of β-alanine administration on some parameters of oxidative stress and on creatine kinase, pyruvate kinase, and adenylate kinase in cerebral cortex and cerebellum of 21-day-old rats. The animals received three peritoneal injections of β-alanine (0.3 mg /g of body weight) and the controls received the same volume (10 μL/g of body weight) of saline solution (NaCl 0.85 %) at 3 h intervals. CSF levels of β-alanine increased five times, achieving 80 μM in the rats receiving the amino acid. The results of β-alanine administration in the parameters of oxidative stress were similar in both tissues studied: reduction of superoxide dismutase activity, increased oxidation of 2',7'-dihydrodichlorofluorescein, total content of sulfhydryl and catalase activity. However, the results of the phosphoryltransfer network enzymes were similar in all enzymes, but different in the tissues studied: the β-alanine administration was able to inhibit the enzyme pyruvate kinase, cytosolic creatine kinase, and adenylate kinase activities in cerebral cortex, and increase in cerebellum. In case this also occurs in the patients, these results suggest that oxidative stress and alteration of the phosphoryltransfer network may be involved in the pathophysiology of β-alaninemia. Moreover, the ingestion of β-alanine to improve muscular performance deserves more attention in respect to possible side-effects.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS, Rua Ramiro Barcelos 2600-Anexo, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP 90035-003, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tanise
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gemelli
authors.forename: Rodrigo Binkowski
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: de Andrade
authors.forename: Denise Bertin
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.forename: Nariélle Ferner
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Bonorino
authors.forename: Priscila Nicolao
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Mazzola
authors.forename: Lucas Silva
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Tortorelli
authors.forename: Cláudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Funchal
authors.forename: Carlos Severo Dutra
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Filho
authors.forename: Clovis Milton Duval
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Wannmacher
mesh_terms: D000263:Adenylate Kinase / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002374:Catalase / Q000378:metabolism; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000378:metabolism; D005452:Fluoresceins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008661:Metabolism, Inborn Errors / Q000097:blood; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction / Q000187:drug effects; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D010770:Phosphotransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011770:Pyruvate Kinase / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000378:metabolism; D015091:beta-Alanine / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D005452:Fluoresceins; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; C065013:2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein; D015091:beta-Alanine; D002374:Catalase; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D010770:Phosphotransferases; D011770:Pyruvate Kinase; D003402:Creatine Kinase; D000263:Adenylate Kinase