Regunathan Soundar, Dozier Damon, Takkalapalli Ramarao, Phillips William J
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS 39216, USA.
J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother. 2009;23(1):35-9. doi: 10.1080/15360280902728161.
Agmatine is an amine formed by the decarboxylation of l-arginine by the enzyme arginine decarboxylase. The fact that exogenous agmatine modulates morphine analgesia and dependence raises the question of whether the biosynthesis of endogenous agmatine is regulated during chronic pain. As a first step to understand the biological role of agmatine in human neurological and psychiatric conditions, this study was aimed to determine the levels of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) agmatine in normal individuals. The levels of agmatine in the CSF and blood were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. Samples of CSF and blood were collected from a total of 10 participants for this study. The CSF agmatine levels ranged from 24.3 to 54.0 ng/mL, whereas the plasma agmatine levels were from 8.4 to 65.1 ng/mL. The mean values with standard error for blood and CSF agmatine were 33.8 +/- 16.6 and 40.4 +/- 9.1, respectively. The statistical analysis of these 10 samples indicated no correlation between blood and CSF samples (r = .29); however, removing one outlier improved the correlation (r = .6). From this study, the authors conclude that human CSF agmatine levels can be measured by HPLC with precision and that a possible correlation exists between plasma and CSF agmatine levels. This study provides basis for future studies in human chronic pain conditions.
胍丁胺是由精氨酸脱羧酶催化L-精氨酸脱羧形成的一种胺类物质。外源性胍丁胺可调节吗啡镇痛和依赖性，这一事实引发了慢性疼痛期间内源性胍丁胺生物合成是否受到调节的问题。作为了解胍丁胺在人类神经和精神疾病中生物学作用的第一步，本研究旨在测定正常个体脑脊液（CSF）中胍丁胺的水平。采用高效液相色谱（HPLC）法测定脑脊液和血液中胍丁胺的水平。本研究共从10名参与者中采集了脑脊液和血液样本。脑脊液中胍丁胺水平在24.3至54.0 ng/mL之间，而血浆中胍丁胺水平在8.4至65.1 ng/mL之间。血液和脑脊液中胍丁胺的平均值及标准误分别为33.8 +/- 16.6和40.4 +/- 9.1。对这10个样本的统计分析表明，血液和脑脊液样本之间无相关性（r = 0.29）；然而，去除一个异常值后相关性有所改善（r = 0.6）。作者从本研究得出结论，人类脑脊液中胍丁胺水平可用HPLC精确测量，血浆和脑脊液中胍丁胺水平之间可能存在相关性。本研究为未来人类慢性疼痛状况的研究提供了基础。
