| Abstract: | ![]()
Investigation of the concentrations of free ammonia, glutamine, and some free amino acids in the brain tissue of normal animals and of hypoxic animals receiving or not receiving succinic semialdehyde revealed a marked increased in the free ammonia and  -alanine concentrations in hypoxia compared with normal, a small increase in the  -aminobutyric acid, no change in the glutamic and aspartic acid concentrations, and a decrease in glutamine. If succinic semialdehyde was given before exposure to hypoxia the concentrations of free ammonia, glutamine, and -alanine were close to normal in this state. One possible mechanism of the antihypoxic effect of succinic semialdehyde is the conversion of this compound with the resulting synthesis of glutamic acid and glutamine, which leads to detoxication of the free ammonia that accumulates in the brain tissue during hypoxia.Institute of Pharmacology, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR V. V. Zakusov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 81, No. 5, pp. 539–541, May, 1976 |
