Effects of glyoxal or methylglyoxal on the metabolism of amino acids, lactate, glucose and acetate in the cerebral cortex of young and adult rats.

The in vitro effects of glyoxal and methylglyoxal on the metabolism of glycine, alanine, leucine, glutamate, glutamine, glucose, lactate and acetate were evaluated in cortico-cerebral slices from young (10-day-old) or adult (3-month-old) rats. In a first set of experiments with cortico-cerebral slices from young animals, the compounds glyoxal or methylglyoxal at 400 microM, increased the oxidation of alanine, leucine and glycine to CO(2) and decreased the protein synthesis from these amino acids. Lipid synthesis from alanine, leucine and glycine was not changed in the cortico-cerebral slices from young rats after glyoxals exposure.