Search results for "Carnitine biosynthesis"
showing 8 items of 8 documents
Anti-diabetic effects of mildronate alone or in combination with metformin in obese Zucker rats
2010
Abstract Mildronate is a cardioprotective drug, the mechanism of action of which is based on the regulation of l -carnitine concentration. We studied the metabolic effects of treatment with mildronate, metformin and a combination of the two in the Zucker rat model of obesity and impaired glucose tolerance. Zucker rats were p.o. treated daily with mildronate (200 mg/kg), metformin (300 mg/kg), and a combination of both drugs for 4 weeks. Weight gain and plasma metabolites reflecting glucose metabolism were measured. The expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-α and PPAR-γ and target genes was measured in rat heart and liver tissues. Each treatment decreased the blood …
Molecular cloning and characterization of the cDNA encoding the rat liver gamma-butyrobetaine hydroxylase
1999
Carnitine biosynthesis from lysine and methionine involves five enzymatic reactions. gamma-butyrobetaine hydroxylase (BBH; EC 1.14. 11.1) is the last enzyme of this pathway. It catalyzes the reaction of hydroxylation of gamma-butyrobetaine to carnitine. The cDNA encoding this enzyme has been isolated and characterized. The cDNA contained an open reading frame of 1161 bp encoding a protein of 387 amino acids with a deduced molecular weight of 44.5 kDa. The sequence of the cDNA showed an important homology with the human cDNA recently isolated. Northern analysis showed gamma-butyrobetaine hydroxylase expression in the liver and in some extend in the testis and the epididymis. During this stud…
Thyroid hormone controls carnitine status through modifications of gamma-butyrobetaine hydroxylase activity and gene expression.
2002
The carnitine system plays a key role in beta-oxidation of long-chain fatty acids by permitting their transport into the mitochondrial matrix. The effects of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism were studied on gamma-butyrobetaine hydroxylase (BBH), the enzyme responsible for carnitine biosynthesis in the rat. In rat liver, BBH activity was decreased in the hypothyroid state and increased in hyperthyroid animals. The modifications in BBH activity correlated with changes in the enzyme Vmax values. These changes were shown to be related to hepatic BBH mRNA abundance. Thyroid hormones are known to interact with lipid metabolism, in particular by increasing long-chain fatty acid oxidation through…
Effects of dietary treatment of rats with eicosapentaenoic acid or docosahexaenoic acid on hepatic lipid metabolism
1998
(1) Effects of dietary treatment of male albino rats with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) or docosahexaenoic acid on hepatic mitochondrial lipid metabolism have been investigated. (2) Mitochondria isolated from rats given these treatments were shown to have increased ability to respire on acyl-CoA esters in the presence of malonate. This effect was expressed with most of the long-chain acyl-CoA esters used as substrates. When malonate in the incubations was replaced with malate, mitochondria from treated animals were found to exhibit diminished rates of respiration on polyunsaturated acyl-CoA esters, in particular linolenoyl-, eicosapentaenoyl- and docosahexaenoyl-CoA. This phenomenon could not…
Effect of inhibiting carnitine biosynthesis on male rat sexual performance.
2008
l-carnitine has a documented role as a cofactor in cellular energy metabolism and fatty acid beta-oxidation pathways and it has also been considered to function in reproductive biology. We investigated whether decreasing concentrations of L-carnitine using an inhibitor of its biosynthesis, mildronate (3-(2,2,2-trimethylhydrazinium)-propionate), would influence the sexual behavior or sperm quality in male rats. Mildronate treatment induced a significant decrease in carnitine concentration and an increase in gamma-butyrobetaine (GBB) concentration in both plasma and testes extracts. However, the expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I in testes and testosterone concentration in plasma …
Mildronate, a Regulator of Energy Metabolism, Reduces Atherosclerosis in apoE/LDLR<sup>–/–</sup> Mice
2009
<i>Background/Aims:</i> Mildronate, an inhibitor of <i>L</i>-carnitine biosynthesis and transport, is used in clinics as a modulator of cellular energy metabolism and is a cardioprotective drug. <i>L</i>-Carnitine is a pivotal molecule in fatty acid oxidation pathways and its regulation in vasculature might be a promising approach for antiatherosclerotic treatment. This study was performed to evaluate the effects of mildronate treatment on the progression of atherosclerosis and the content of <i>L</i>-carnitine in the vascular wall. <i>Methods:</i> ApoE/LDLR<sup>–/–</sup> mice received mildronate at doses of 30 and 100 …
Where Does Nε-Trimethyllysine for the Carnitine Biosynthesis in Mammals Come from?
2014
N(ε)-trimethyllysine (TML) is a non-protein amino acid which takes part in the biosynthesis of carnitine. In mammals, the breakdown of endogenous proteins containing TML residues is recognized as starting point for the carnitine biosynthesis. Here, we document that one of the main sources of TML could be the vegetables which represent an important part of daily alimentation for most mammals. A HPLC-ESI-MS/MS method, which we previously developed for the analysis of N(G)-methylarginines, was utilized to quantitate TML in numerous vegetables. We report that TML, believed to be rather rare in plants as free amino acid, is, instead, ubiquitous in them and at not negligible levels. The occurrenc…
Carnitine transport in volume-overloaded rat hearts
1995
Carnitine concentration in tissue is generally related to mitochondrial volume-density and ability to oxidize fatty acids. The highest tissue carnitine has been detected in ventricular myocardium which, compared to other tissues, presents elevated rates of oxidative phosphorylation [1]. The ability of cardiac mitochondria to oxidize long chain fatty acids is also much higher when compared to skeletal muscle or liver sarcosomes (Table 1). Paradoxically enough, it has been known for many years [3–5] that the heart is missing γ-butyrobetaine hydroxylase [6, 7], the last enzyme of carnitine synthesizing pathway, and that in the myocardium of different species including man, the carnitine synthe…