The glycation of proteins by glucose has been linked to the development of diabetic complications and other diseases. Early glycation is thought to involve the reaction of glucose with N-terminal and lysyl side chain amino groups to form Schiff's base and fructosamine adducts. The formation of the alpha-oxoaldehydes, glyoxal, methylglyoxal and 3-deoxyglucosone, in early glycation was investigat...

A remarkable stereoselective reaction of methylglyoxal with 2-aminopyridine, the nucleic base adenine and adenine nucleosides leads in good yield to heterocycles of a new family in water under mild conditions and should be of interest in the understanding of the biological effects of methylglyoxal which is toxic, mutagenic and involved in diabetic complications.

1. Injections of sublethal doses of methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone), a potent inhibitor of putrescine-activated S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase in vitro, resulted after a few days in an immense increase in the activity of S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase in normal and regenerating rat liver and in rat thymus. The increase in the activity of S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase was at leas...

The long standing question of the source of methylglyoxal formed in glycolyzing tissues was considered. Nonbiological studies, made with chemical model systems, made evident that the formation of methylglyoxal from dihydroxyacetone and from Dr.-glyceraldehyde under physiological conditions of pH and temperature is catalyzed by Tris and by certain polyvalent anions including phytate, phosphate, ...

Intraperitoneal injection of 5 mumol of acetone/g, body weight, into 3 rats previously fed 1% acetone (v/v) in their drinking water resulted in the appearance in blood serum of 16 +/- 2 nmol of 1,2-propanediol/ml and 8 +/- 1 nmol of 2,3-butanediol/ml. No detectable 1,2-propanediol or 2,3-butanediol was found in the serum of animals after acetone or saline injection without prior addition of ace...

The glyoxalase system catalyses the conversion of methylglyoxal to D-lactic acid via the intermediate S-D-lactoylglutathione (Fig. 1). It comprises two enzymes, glyoxalase I and glyoxalase II, and a catalytic amount of reduced glutathione (Carrington & Douglas, 1986; Thornalley, 1989). Glyoxalase I (EC 4.4.1.5, lactoylglutathione lyase) catalyses the formation of S-D-lactoylglutathione from the...

The reactions of three α-oxoaldehydes (methylglyoxal, glyoxal, and pyruvic acid) with hydroxyl radicals generated by sonolysis of water were investigated using an electron spin resonance (electron paramagnetic resonance) spin-trapping method, and their reaction kinetics were investigated. It is apparent from our experimental results that methylglyoxal exhibits the highest reactivity of the thre...

The administration of a single dose of acetone (100 mg/kg bw) to virgin and 21-day pregnant rats resulted in the appearance of relatively high concentrations of 1,2-propanediol, acetol and methylglyoxal in plasma and liver. In the fetuses no methylglyoxal was detectable. The acetone metabolism curves tend to indicate that the capacity for acetone disposal may be enhanced in the 48 hr-fasted pre...

We previously found that the anti-cancer drug methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) (mitoguazone) depresses carnitine-dependent oxidation of long-chain fatty acids in cultured mouse leukaemia cells [Nikula, Alhonen-Hongisto, Seppänen & Jänne (1984) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 120, 9-14]. We have now investigated whether carnitine also influences the development of the well-known mitochondrial d...