Pharmacological doses of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) potentiate histone acetylation in the rat brain by histone deacetylase inhibition.

Several small chain fatty acids, including butyrate, valproate, phenylbutyrate and its derivatives, inhibit several HDAC activities in the brain at a several hundred micromolar concentration. Gamma-hydroxy-butyrate (GHB), a natural compound found in the brain originating from the metabolism of GABA, is structurally related to these fatty acids. The average physiological tissue concentration of GHB in the brain is below 50 microM, but when GHB is administered or absorbed for therapeutic or recreative purposes, its concentration reaches several hundred micromolars. In the present scenario, we demonstrate that pharmacological concentrations of GHB significantly induce brain histone H3 acetylation with a heterogeneous distribution in the brain and reduce in vitro HDAC activity. The degree of HDAC inhibition was also different according to the region of the brain considered. Taking into account the multiple physiological and functional roles attributed to the modification of histone acetylation and its consequences at the level of gene expression, we propose that part of the therapeutic or toxic effects of high concentrations of GHB in the brain after therapeutic administration of the drug could be partly due to GHB-induced epigenetic factors. In addition, we hypothesize that GHB, being naturally synthesized in the cytosolic compartment of certain neurons, could penetrate into the nuclei and may reach sufficient levels that could significantly modulate histone acetylation and may participate in the epigenetic modification of gene expression.