In order to provide information about the function of glycine in the superficial three laminae of the rat dorsal horn and the possible coexistence of glycine and GABA at synapses in this region, we have carried out a combined study involving preembedding immunocytochemistry with a monoclonal antibody to the glycine receptor and postembedding immunocytochemistry with antiserum to fixed GABA. Gly...

In the course of glycine conjugation, benzoic acid is successively converted into benzoyl-CoA and benzoylglycine by mitochondrial enzymes (i.e. benzoyl-CoA synthetase and benzoyl-CoA/glycine N-acyltransferase, respectively), utilizing ATP, CoA, and glycine. Large doses of benzoate deplete CoA from the liver, suggesting that the supply of CoA may limit the capacity for glycine conjugation. Becau...

We previously reported that plasma levels of glycine, a co-agonist at N-methyl-D-asparate (NMDA)-type glutamate receptors, are decreased in patients with schizophrenia, and that glycine levels are negatively correlated with negative symptoms. The aim of the present study was to determine if glycine, or its ratio to serine, a precursor of glycine, predicts change in negative symptoms in subjects...

A 3-year-old girl with mental retardation and a cleft palate disclosed hyperglycinuria. Serum glycine concentration was within the normal limits and renal clearance of glycine was elevated. Oral loading test of glycine showed that the intestinal absorption of glycine seemed to be nonnal. With intravenous loading of glycine, maximum tubular reabsorption rate (Tm) for glycine could not be obtaine...

The effectiveness of glycine in treating experimental lead intoxication was examined in rats. Male Wistar rats were exposed to 3 g/L lead acetate in drinking water for 5 weeks and treated thereafter with glycine (100 and 500 mg/kg, orally) once daily for 5 days or glycine (1000 mg/kg, orally) once daily for 28 days. The effect of these treatments on parameters indicative of oxidative stress (gl...

The peptidoglycan (PG) is a macromolecular component of the bacterial cell wall that maintains the shape and integrity of the cell. The PG of Caulobacter crescentus, unlike that of many other Gram-negative bacteria, has repeatedly been shown to contain significant amounts of glycine. This compositional peculiarity has been deemed an intrinsic characteristic of this species. By performing a comp...

Glucagon stimulates 14CO2 production from [1-14C] glycine by isolated rat hepatocytes. Maximal stimulation (70%) of decarboxylation of glycine by hepatocytes was achieved when the concentration of glucagon in the medium reached 10 nM; half-maximal stimulation occurred at a concentration of about 2 nM. A lag period of 10 min was observed before the stimulation could be measured. Inclusion of bet...

Glycine plays an important role as an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the ventral cochlear nucleus. However, little is known about the kinetic behavior of glycine receptors. The present study examines the kinetics of the native inhibitory glycine receptors in neurons of the ventral cochlear nucleus, using outside-out patches from acutely dissociated cells and a fast flow system. Steps into 1 mM ...

The potentiation of glycine-induced responses by ethanol (EtOH) was studied in neurons freshly dissociated from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of 5- to 14-day-old postnatal rats using whole-cell and gramicidin-perforated patch-clamp techniques. Under current-clamp conditions, EtOH increased glycine-induced membrane depolarization and action potential firing. Under voltage-clamp conditions, Et...

Glycine is most important and simple, nonessential amino acid in humans, animals, and many mammals. Generally, glycine is synthesized from choline, serine, hydroxyproline, and threonine through interorgan metabolism in which kidneys and liver are the primarily involved. Generally in common feeding conditions, glycine is not sufficiently synthesized in humans, animals, and birds. Glycine acts as...