Summary
To obtain reliable information on the diurnal rhythms in rat brain large neutral amino acid (LNAA) concentrations, animals were killed, in groups of six, every one h throughout one 24 h period. By using such short sampling intervals, it was possible to detect a statistically significant diurnal variation in the whole brain concentration of each LNAA and to give a more detailed description of these diurnal variations than previously presented. Furthermore, the diurnal variations in whole brain concentrations of the precursor amino acids, tyrosine and tryptophan, were compared with corresponding variations in the respective monoamines and their main metabolites. Similar diurnal patterns were demonstrated for tryptophan, serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid. No such correspondence was detected for tyrosine, dopamine, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bobillier P, Mouret JR (1971) The alterations of the diurnal variations of brain tryptophan, biogenic amines and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in the rat under limited time feeding. Int J Neurosci 2: 271–282
Carlsson A, Lindqvist M (1972) The effect of L-tryptophan and some psychotropic drugs on the formation of 5-hydroxytryptophan in the mouse brain in vivo. J Neural Transm 33: 23–42
Carlsson A, Lindqvist M (1978) Dependence of 5-HT and catecholamine synthesis on concentrations of precursor amino acids in rat brain. Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol 303: 157–164
Cespuglio R, Sarda N, Gharib A, Chastrette N, Houdouin F, Rampin C, Jouvet M (1990) Voltammetric detection of the release of 5-hydroxyindole compounds throughout the sleep-waking cycle of the rat. Exp Brain Res 80: 121: 121–128
Crandall EA, Fernstrom JD (1983) Effect of experimental diabetes on the levels of aromatic and branched-chain amino acids in rat blood and brain. Diabetes 32: 222–230
DiRaddo J, Kellogg C (1975) In vivo rates of tyrosine and tryptophan hydroxylation in regions of rat brain at four times during the lightdark cycle. Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol 286: 389–400
Eriksson T, Voog L, Wålinder J, Eriksson TE (1989 a) Diurnal rhythm in absolute and relative concentrations of large neutral amino acids in human plasma. J Psychiatr Res 23: 241–249
Eriksson T, Wiesel K, Voog L, Hagman M (1989 b) Diurnal rhythms in rat plasma amino acids. Life Sci 45: 979–986
Fernstrom JD, Larin F, Wurtman RJ (1971) Daily variations of individual amino acids in rat plasma. Life Sci 10: 813–819
Fernstrom JD (1983) Role of precursor availability in control of monoamine biosynthesis in brain. Physiol Rev 63: 484–546
Fernstrom JD, Fernstrom MH, Grubb PE (1987) Twenty-four hour variations in rat blood and brain levels of the aromatic and branched-chain amino acids: chronic effects of dietary protein content. Metabolism 32: 643–650
Hery F, Rouer E, Glowinski J (1972) Daily variations of serotonin metabolism in the rat brain. Brain Res 43: 445–465
Jouvet M (1984) Indoleamines and sleep-inducing factors. Exp Brain Res 8: 81–94
Lackovic Z, Parenti M, Neff NH (1981) Simultaneous determination of femtomole quantities of 5-hydroxytryptophan, serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in brain using HPLC with electrochemical detection. Eur J Pharmacol 69: 347–352
Lindroth P, Mopper K (1979) High performance liquid Chromatographicdetermination of subpicomole amounts of amino acids by precolumn fluorescence derivatization with o-phtaldealdehyde. Anal Chem 51: 1667–1674
Magnusson O, Nilsson LB, Westerlund D (1980) Simultaneous determination of dopamine, dopac and homovanillic acid. Direct injection of supernatants from brain homogenates in a liquid chromatographyelectrochemical detection system. J Chromatogr 221: 237–247
Milner JD, Wurtman RJ (1986) Catecholamine synthesis: physiological coupling to precursor supply. Biochem Pharmachol 35: 875–881
Morgan WW, Saldana JJ, Yndo CA, Morgan JF (1975) Correlations between circadian changes in serum amino acids or brain tryptophan and the contents of serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in regions of the rat brain. Brain Res 84: 75–86
Nelson W, Tong YL, Lee J-K, Halberg F (1979) Methods for cosinorrhythmometry. Chronobiologia 6: 305–323
Oldendorf WH (1975) Permeability of the blood-brain barrier. In: Tower DB (ed) The nervous system: the basic neuroscienc. Raven Press, New York, pp 279–289
Pardridge WM (1977) Regulation of amino acid availability to the brain. In: Wurtman RJ, Wurtman JJ (eds) Nutrition and brain, vol 1. Raven Press, New York, pp 141–204
Schewing LE, Harrison WH, Gordon P, Pauly JE (1968) Daily fluctuation (circadian and ultradian) in biogenic amines of the rat brain. Am J Physiol 214: 166–173
Voog L, Eriksson T (1992) Is the brain content of large neutral amino acids (LNAAs) a reflection of plasma LNAA concentrations? J Neural Transm [GenSect] 87: 133–143
Wesemann W, Rotsch M, Schulz E, Sturm G, Zöfel P (1986) Circadian rhythm of serotonin binding in rat brain. I. Effect of the lightdark cycle. Chronobiol Int 3: 135–139
Wurtman RJ, Rose CM, Chou C, Larin FF (1968) Daily rhythms in the concentrations of various amino acids in human plasma. N Engl J Med 279: 171–175
Wurtman RJ (1970) Diurnal rhythms in mammalian protein metabolism. In: Munro HN (ed) Mammalian protein metabolism. Academic Press, New York, pp 445–479
Wurtman RJ, Ferstrom JD (1976) Control of brain neurotransmitter synthesis by precursorf availability and nutritional state. Biochem Pharmacol 25: 1691–1696
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Voog, L., Eriksson, T. Diurnal rhythms in rat brain large neutral amino acids (LNAAs), monoamines and monoamine metabolites. J. Neural Transmission 87, 215–224 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01245367
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01245367