Reduction of Na+, K+-ATPase activity in hippocampus of rats subjected to chemically induced hyperhomocysteinemia

Hyperhomocysteinemia occurs in homocystinuria, an inherited metabolic disease clinically characterized by thromboembolic episodes and a variable degree of neurological dysfunction whose pathophysiology is poorly known. In this study, we induced elevated levels of homocysteine (Hcy) in blood (500 microM), comparable to those of human homocystinuria, and in brain (60 nmol/g wet tissue) of young rats by injecting subcutaneously homocysteine (0.3-0.6 micromol/g of body weight) twice a day at 8-hr intervals from the 6th to the 28th postpartum day. Controls received saline in the same volumes. Na(+),K(+)-ATPase and Mg(2+)-ATPase activities were determined in the hippocampus of treated Hcy- and saline-treated rats. Chronic administration of Hcy significantly decreased (40%) Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity but did not alter Mg(2+)-ATPase activity. Considering that Na(+),K(+)-ATPase plays a crucial role in the central nervous system, our results suggest that the brain dysfunction found in homocystinuria may be related to the reduction of brain Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity.