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Amino acid concentrations and selected enzyme activities in rat auditory, olfactory, and visual systems

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Abstract

Homogenates of specific brain regions of three sensory systems (auditory, olfactory, and visual) were prepared from pigmented Long-Evans Hooded rats and assayed for amino acid concentrations and activities of glutaminase, aspartate aminotransferase (total, cytosolic, and, by difference, mitochondrial), malate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase, and choline acetyltransferase. Comparing the quantitative distributions among regions revealed significant correlations between AAT and aspartate, between glutaminase and glutamate, between glutamate and glutamine, and between AAT plus glutaminase, or glutaminase alone, and the sum of aspartate, glutamate, and GABA, suggesting a metabolic pathway involving the synthesis of a glutamate pool as precursor to aspartate and GABA. Of the inhibitory transmitter amino acids, GABA concentrations routinely exceeded those of glycine, but glycine concentrations were relatively high in brainstem auditory structures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Otorhinolaryngology and Physiology & Biophysics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, P.O. Box 26901, 73190, Oklahoma City, OK

    C. David Ross

  2. Departments of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Physiology & Biophysics, and Anatomy & Neurobiology, Medical College of Ohio, 43699, Toledo, OH

    Donald A. Godfrey

  3. Amoco Production Company, 74102, Tulsa, OK

    Judy A. Parli

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Ross, C.D., Godfrey, D.A. & Parli, J.A. Amino acid concentrations and selected enzyme activities in rat auditory, olfactory, and visual systems. Neurochem Res 20, 1483–1490 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00970598

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