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Effects of short-term and prolonged aerogenic hypoxia on gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity in the brain, liver, and biological fluids of young rats

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Abstract

Posthypoxic fluctuations in the levels of two excitatory amino acids, glutamate and aspartate, may be related to changes in mechanisms(s) which are responsible for their reuptake. As gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) plays a role in mediating the uptake of glutamate and aspartate into various compartments of the brain, we studied changes in the activity of this enzyme in main regions of the brain in young and adult rats. We found a posthypoxic increase in bound GGT activity in some brain regions of 18-day-old animals after acute exposure, but no changes were observed after prolonged altitude hypoxia, with the exception of a decrease in cortical GGT activity. In contrast, acute hypoxia decreased GGT activity in the cortical capillaries to 59%, but prolonged hypoxic exposure was ineffective. However, the activity of soluble GGT in the cerebrospinal fluid of both groups of rats was several-times elevated in comparison with controls. At the same time, bound GGT activity was increased in the liver after acute or prolonged altitude hypoxia. The soluble GGT activity in plasma was only increased after prolonged exposure. Ninety days after prolonged hypoxic exposure the bound GGT activity was reduced in all brain regions to about 60–70% of controls (significantly higher in females than in males) as long-term developmental sequel from early postnatal hypoxia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physiolgy Faculty of General Medicine, Charles University, Albertov 5, CS-12800, Prague 2, Czecholsovakia

    František Šťastný & Stanislav Trojan

  2. Institute of Physiology, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Vídeňská 1083, CS-14200, Prague 4, Czechoslovakia

    Václav Lisý

  3. Research Institute of Child Development Faculty of Pediatric Medicine, Charles University, V úvalu 84, CS-15006, Prague 5, Czechoslovakia

    Hana Tomášová

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  1. František Šťastný
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  3. Hana Tomášová
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  4. Stanislav Trojan
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Šťastný, F., Lisý, V., Tomášová, H. et al. Effects of short-term and prolonged aerogenic hypoxia on gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity in the brain, liver, and biological fluids of young rats. Neurochem Res 10, 819–828 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00964539

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