• Ping Liu, Sree Chary, Renuka Devaraj, Yu Jing, Cynthia L Darlington, Paul F Smith, Ian G Tucker, and Hu Zhang.
• Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. ping.liu@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
• Hippocampus. 2008 Jan 1;18(9):853-6.

AbstractAgmatine is a metabolite of L-arginine by arginine decarboxylase. Recent evidence suggests that it exists in mammalian brain and is a novel neurotransmitter. The present study measured agmatine levels in several memory-associated brain structures in aged (24-month-old), middle-aged (12-month-old), and young (4-month-old) male Sprague Dawley rats using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Agmatine levels were significantly decreased in the CA1, but increased in the CA2/3 and dentate gyrus, subregions of the hippocampus in aged and middle-aged rats relative to the young adults. In the prefrontal cortex, a dramatic decrease in agmatine level was found in aged rats as compared with middle-aged and young rats. There were significantly increased levels of agmatine in the entorhinal and perirhinal cortices in aged relative to middle-aged and young rats. In the postrhinal and temporal cortices, agmatine levels were significantly increased in aged and middle-aged rats as compared with young adults. The present findings, for the first time, demonstrate age-related changes in agmatine levels in memory-associated brain structures and raise a novel issue of the potential involvement of agmatine in the aging process.(c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

23 keywords...

hide…