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Differential changes in rat brain tryptophan, serotonin and tyrosine levels following acute aflatoxin B1 treatment
L B Weekley1, C E O'Rear, T D Kimbrough
1School of Veterinary Medicine, Colorado State University, Fort Collins.
Abstract:
Female Sprague-Dawley rats were treated acutely (12-h) with aflatoxin B1 (100 micrograms/kg i.p.) or vehicle (10% acetone in 0.9% NaCl) and regional brain levels of tryptophan, serotonin and tyrosine were assayed. Brainstem but not cerebellar or cortical tyrosine levels were decreased in aflatoxin B1-treated rats. Brain tryptophan was increased in all 3 brain regions by acute aflatoxin B1 treatment, while serotonin levels were unaltered in the cerebellum and cortex and decreased in the brainstem. These experiments indicate that acute aflatoxin B1 treatment differentially alters brain amino acids and serotonin and that changes in brain tryptophan, the serotonin precursor, do not parallel changes in brain serotonin.