RESUMO
Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, is dependent on proline for a variety of processes, such as energy metabolism, host cell invasion, differentiation, and resistance to osmotic, metabolic, and oxidative stress. On this basis, we investigated a possible relationship between prolinemia and severity of T. cruzi infection in chronic patients, as reported here. The study population consisted of 112 subjects, separated into 83 chronically T. cruzi-infected patients and 29 age-matched healthy volunteers (control) of both sexes, recruited at the Chagas Disease Service from the Department of Cardiology, Hospital Provincial del Centenario de Rosario (Rosario, Argentina). Chagasic patients were separated into three groups: chronic asymptomatic, mild/moderate, and severe chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCC) subjects. We observed a significant decrease of 11.7% in prolinemia in chagasic patients when compared to controls. Further analysis within the three groups of chagasic patients also revealed a statistically significant decrease of prolinemia in severe CCC patients compared to controls, showing a relative difference of 13.6% in proline concentrations. These data point to the possibility that collagen-which participates in the healing process of cardiac tissue-and proline metabolism in the myocardium could constitute new factors affecting the evolution of Chagas disease.
Assuntos
Doença de Chagas/sangue , Doença de Chagas/patologia , Prolina/sangue , Adolescente , Adulto , Idoso , Doença Crônica , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Sustained levels of proline comparable to those of human type II hyperprolinemia were achieved in blood and brain of rats subcutaneous proline administration twice a day from the 6th till the 28th day of life. Control rats were treated with saline in the same volumes. Behavioral studies using aversive and nonaversive tasks were performed one week or one month after treatment. Proline treatment did not affect rats' performance in the inhibitory avoidance task, but reduced significantly habituation in the open field. Our results seem to indicate that early postnatal administration of proline to rats affects habituation to a novel environment. If this happens to be so the present tendency to consider hyperprolinemia as a benign condition should be revised.
Assuntos
Aprendizagem da Esquiva/efeitos dos fármacos , Comportamento Animal/efeitos dos fármacos , Habituação Psicofisiológica/efeitos dos fármacos , Prolina/farmacologia , Fatores Etários , Animais , Peso Corporal/efeitos dos fármacos , Encéfalo/anatomia & histologia , Química Encefálica , Feminino , Masculino , Tamanho do Órgão/efeitos dos fármacos , Prolina/sangue , Prolina/farmacocinética , Ratos , Ratos Endogâmicos , Distribuição TecidualAssuntos
Ácido Ascórbico/sangue , Hidroxiprolina/sangue , Prolina/sangue , Talassemia/sangue , Criança , Pré-Escolar , HumanosAssuntos
Alcoolismo/complicações , Distúrbios Nutricionais/etiologia , Aminoácidos/deficiência , Aminoácidos/uso terapêutico , Deficiência de Colina/etiologia , Encefalopatia Hepática/etiologia , Humanos , Cirrose Hepática Alcoólica/etiologia , Metionina/deficiência , Distúrbios Nutricionais/tratamento farmacológico , Prolina/sangue , Triptofano/deficiência , Vitaminas/uso terapêuticoRESUMO
The postnatal (3 to 12 hours) plasma amino acid patterns of normal full-term, nonhypoglycemic, and hypoglycemic small-for-gestational age infants were compared. Seventeen amino acid were separated by automatic column chromatography. It was found that hypoglycemia in SGA newborn infants was associated with a marked increase in total serum amino acid concentrations. This hyperaminoacidemia, which was mainly due to the increase in concentrations of alanine, glycine, proline, and valine, apparently reflected a decreased heapatic gluconeogenic capacity. A significant inverse correlation was observed between concentration of blood glucose and the accumulation of gluconeogenic amino acids. The proportionate accumulation of alanine, glycine, proline, and valine suggests a closely interrelated production and release of these amino acids from the peripheral pools. It is concluded that the changes in concentrations of plasma amino acids occurring in hypoglycemic SGA infants can be helpful in understanding the relative contribution of individual amino acids to gluconeogenesis in the human infant.