148: Biochemical Studies of Glycerol Neurotoxicity

Autor: Pinar T. Ozand, A Karahasan, Marvin Cornblath, Jt Tildon
Rok vydání: 1976
Předmět:
Zdroj: Pediatric Research. 10:895-895
ISSN: 1530-0447
0031-3998
DOI: 10.1203/00006450-197610000-00139
Popis: Metabolic studies of a 4 year old child that revealed a neurotoxicity to glycerol (MacLaren et al J.Ped.86,43–49.1975) have been extended to include measurements of serum dopamine β hydroxylase (DBH) as an index of sympathetic nervous system activity. Within an hour after the oral administration of glycerol (1.0 gm/kg), DBH activity decreased to approximately 50% of the initial value in each of six volunteers. In the child, the rate of glycerol disappearance was different, and the DBH decreased to less than 20% when he was given a similar glycerol load. To assess the metabolic fate of glycerol, enzyme measurements and in vitro oxidation rates were determined in rat brains. Using sucrose density gradients, glycerol kinase activity was found predominantly in the mitochondrial fraction, and the rate of glycerol oxidation by this fraction was 3 times higher than the synaptosomal or myelin fractions. The kinetics of the oxidation indicated both a “high” and a “low” affinity for glycerol. The results suggest that this oxidation provides the brain with a detoxification mechanism that prevents the accumulation of glycerol, in situ, which may affect norepinephrine metabolism. It is hypothesized that glycerol neurotoxicity might result from an alteration of this process. (Supported by grants HD –03959, HD-06291 and AM-18127 from the NIH and the John A. Hartford Foundation. J.T.T. is a Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation faculty Scholar).
Databáze: OpenAIRE