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Negative regulation of homocysteine metabolism by stress in rats

Wu Shuqing, Qian Lingjia

Institute of Hygiene and environmental Medicine, Academy of Military Medical Sciences. Tianjin 300050, China

Abstract

To investigate the effect of stress on homocysteine metabolism in the rat and explore the mechanism as well as the key regulatory link of stress-induced hyperhomocysteinemia, male Wistar rats were treated with restraint stress while control rats received routine treatment. By HPLC-fluorometry, the homocysteine level in rat plasma was determined. Cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) activity in blood, heart, liver and kidney was measured by radioisotope assay using [14C]-serine as the labeled substrate. Total RNA was isolated from rat liver after restraint stress. RT-PCR and Northern blot were used to estimate the level of CBS mRNA. The results showed that hyperhomocysteinemia was induced by restraint stress. The highest CBS enzyme activity was seen in rat livers. A decrease in hepatic activities of CBS was found in restraint stress rats. The 29.4%±2.5% reduction in the activity of CBS was accompanied by a 44.1% ± 3.4% decrease in its mRNA level.

Key words: Metabolism;Stress;Homocysteine;Cystathionine beta-synthase

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Citing This Article：

Wu Shuqing, Qian Lingjia. Negative regulation of homocysteine metabolism by stress in rats. Acta Physiol Sin 2004; 56 (4): (in Chinese with English abstract).