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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

A High-performance Liquid Chromatography Measurement of Kynurenine and Kynurenic Acid: Relating Biochemistry to Cognition and Sleep in Rats
Published on: August 19, 2018
SNAP and SIN-1 increase brain production of kynurenic acid
Piotr Luchowski1, Ewa M Urbanska
1Department of Pharmacology, Skubiszewski Medical University, Jaczewskiego 8, 20-090 Lublin, Poland.
Abstract:
The influence of nitric oxide (NO) donors, S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP), and 3-morpholinosydnonimine (SIN-1), on the central production of an endogenous glutamate receptor antagonist, kynurenic acid, was evaluated in vitro. In cortical slices, SNAP and SIN-1 potently increased the extracellular concentration of kynurenic acid. A free radical scavenger, l-ascorbate reversed this effect. Neither SNAP nor SIN-1 altered the activity of kynurenic acid biosynthetic enzymes, kynurenine aminotransferases (KAT I and II). These data reveal a novel aspect of the brain response to studied herein NO donors and suggest that in the milieu containing NO-related free radicals the formation of kynurenic acid is enhanced.
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