Open AccessPlasma dependent and independent accumulation of betaine in male and female rat tissues
Author(s) -
Sandy Slow,
Michael Lever,
Stephen Chambers,
Peter M. George
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
physiological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.647
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1802-9973
pISSN - 0862-8408
DOI - 10.33549/physiolres.931569
Subject(s) - betaine , kidney , endocrinology , medicine , spleen , osmolyte , skeletal muscle , biology , choline , small intestine , blood plasma , chemistry , biochemistry
Tissue betaine is an intracellular osmolyte that also provides astore of labile methyl groups. Despite these important biologicalroles, there are few data regarding tissue betaine content. Wemeasured the betaine concentration of plasma and varioustissues (brain, heart, lungs, liver, kidney, spleen, intestine,reproductive tissues, skeletal muscle and skin) in male andfemale rats and assessed whether there were any gender-specificdifferences in betaine content or distribution and whether therewas any relationship between tissue accumulation and plasmalevels. Betaine was highest in the liver and kidney with valuesranging from 1.6 to 9.5 mmol/l and 2.0 to 5.4 mmol/l,respectively. Plasma betaine concentrations were significantlylower than tissue levels except in the brain (≈ 25 % of plasma)and skeletal muscle (similar to plasma). Regression analysis ofthe combined male and female data revealed a significantplasma-related accumulation of betaine in the heart, skin andskeletal muscle, while the lung, liver, kidney, spleen, andintestine showed significant plasma-related and plasmaindependent accumulations of betaine. The betaine content ofthe skin, liver and kidney was not significantly different betweenmales and females, but in plasma and all tissues analyzed it wassignificantly higher in males (P<0.01).