Nitric oxide accelerates the degradation of tetrahydrobiopterin but not total neopterin in cerebrospinal fluid; potential implications for the assessment of tetrahydrobiopterin metabolism

Assessment of total neopterin and tetrahydrobioterin (BH4) concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can be used to identify potential disorders of BH4 biosynthesis. In this study, we demonstrate that exposure of CSF to nitric oxide leads to an accelerated degradation of BH4 but does not affect th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of clinical biochemistry 2007-07, Vol.44 (4), p.394-396
Main Authors: Lam, A A J, Heales, S J R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biopterins - analogs & derivatives
Biopterins - metabolism
Cerebrospinal Fluid - drug effects
Cerebrospinal Fluid - metabolism
Humans
Neopterin - metabolism
Nitric Oxide - pharmacology
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Summary:Assessment of total neopterin and tetrahydrobioterin (BH4) concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can be used to identify potential disorders of BH4 biosynthesis. In this study, we demonstrate that exposure of CSF to nitric oxide leads to an accelerated degradation of BH4 but does not affect the total neopterin concentration. These data suggest that in those conditions associated with increased nitric oxide formation, perturbation of the total neopterin to BH4 ratio could occur. Under such circumstances a putative diagnosis of a defect in BH4 biosynthesis may erroneously be proposed. Assessment of central nitric oxide generation may therefore be a useful adjunct to the determination of CSF pterin status.
ISSN:0004-5632
1758-1001
DOI:10.1258/000456307780945741