Determination of brain distribution of amino acid neurotransmitters in pigs and rats by HPLC-UV

Background and objectives

Amino acid neurotransmitters are closely correlated to the neurological function of the brain, and the imbalance of amino acid neurotransmitters can lead to a variety of neurological diseases. Therefore, the development of a simple method to detect five neurotransmitters (aspartate, glutamate, glycine, taurine, γ-aminobutyric) in the brain is urgently needed.

Methods

The sample was initially treated and derived, and analyzed using liquid chromatography. In the range of 0.300–100.000 mol/L, the linear relationship was good, and the correlation coefficient was ≥0.999. Furthermore, the intra-day accuracy of this method was 1.48–13.85%, and the inter-day accuracy was 2.13–12.61%. Moreover, the limit of detection (LOD, signal-to-noise ratio 3 [S/N = 3]) was 0.15–0.20 mol/L, and the limit of quantitation (LOQ, S/N = 10) was 0.30–0.55 mol/L. This approach was used to compare the content of amino acids in the brain of pigs and rats.

Results

The data revealed that most of the amino acid neurotransmitters were higher in the five brain tissues obtained from pigs, when compared to those obtained from rats. Aspartate and taurine had the greatest concentrations in brain tissues obtained from pigs and rats, respectively (except the cerebellum).

Conclusions

The present study offers a quick and low-cost method for identifying amino acid neurotransmitters in brain tissues. This technique has been used to identify amino acid neurotransmitters in five different regions of the brain in pigs and rats. These findings demonstrate the suitability of this approach for identifying amino acid neurotransmitters in animal brain tissues.

Full text

https://www.xiahepublishing.com/2572-5505/JERP-2023-00029

The study was recently published in the Journal of Exploratory Research in Pharmacology.

Journal of Exploratory Research in Pharmacology (JERP) publishes original innovative exploratory research articles, state-of-the-art reviews, editorials, short communications that focus on novel findings and the most recent advances in basic and clinical pharmacology, covering topics from drug research, drug development, clinical trials and application.

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