Effects of acute ammonia toxicity on nitric oxide (NO), citrulline-NO cycle enzymes, arginase and related metabolites in different regions of rat brain.

Abstract Nitric oxide (NO) is involved in many pathophysiological processes in the brain. NO is synthesized from arginine by nitric oxide synthase (NOS) enzymes. Citrulline formed as a by-product of the NOS reaction, can be recycled to arginine by successive actions of argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS) and argininosuccinate lyase (ASL) via the citrulline–NO cycle. Hyperammonemia is known to cause poorly understood perturbations of the citrulline–NO cycle. To understand the role of citrulline–NO cycle in hyperammonemia, NOS, ASS, ASL and arginase activities, as well as nitrate/nitrite (NOx), arginine, ornithine, citrulline, glutamine, gluamate and GABA were estimated in cerebral cortex (CC), cerebellum (CB) and brain stem (BS) of rats subjected to acute ammonia toxicity. NOx concentration and NOS activity were found to increase in all the regions of brain in acute ammonia toxicity. The activities of ASS and ASL showed an increasing trend whereas the arginase was not changed. The results of this study clearly demonstrated the increased formation of NO, suggesting the involvement of NO in the pathophysiology of acute ammonia toxicity. The increased activities of ASS and ASL suggest the increased and effective recycling of citrulline to arginine in acute ammonia toxicity, making NO production more effective and contributing to its toxic effects.