The role of methanethiol in the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy

Mixed disulfides of methanethiol represent a relative estimate for an exposure to methanethiol. The concentrations of methanethiol-mixed disulfides, methionine, 4-methylthio-2-oxobutyrate and ammonia were measured in patients with different stages of hepatic encephalopathy, in patients with chronic kidney failure and in healthy subjects. In patients with hepatic encephalopathy, the mean serum concentrations of all these compounds were elevated. However, the elevations of methanethiol-mixed disulfides were small and partly caused by decreased renal function. In addition, the levels of methanethiol-mixed disulfides did not differ significantly between the different grades of hepatic encephalopathy. The concentrations of methanethiol-mixed disulfides were substantially lower than those previously observed in healthy subjects after an oral methionine load or in a patient with a deficiency in methionine adenosyltransferase, the latter without causing encephalopathy. We concluded that the role of methanethiol in the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy is probably minor, if not insignificant. In the patients with hepatic encephalopathy, a significant correlation was found between the concentrations of methionine and 4-methylthio-2-oxobutyrate and between 4-methylthio-2-oxobutyrate and methanethiol-mixed disulfides, supporting the theory that methanethiol is formed by way of the methionine transamination pathway. Evidence is provided that, besides the methionine transsulfuration pathway, the transamination pathway is also impaired in patients with hepatic encephalopathy.