Lotus97
Senior Member
- Messages
- 2,041
- Location
- United States
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6462327Prevention of ammonia toxicity by L-carnitine: metabolic changes in brain.
L-Carnitine when injected in mice 30 min before an LD100 of ammonium acetate (12 mmol/kg body weight, intraperitoneal) reduced mortality (100% survival with 16 mmol L-carnitine/kg) and prevented the appearance of symptoms of ammonia toxicity. Brain ammonia decreased in the animals given L-carnitine. Ammonia decreased the levels of glutamate in brain; they were partially restored by L-carnitine, which also reduced the increase in brain glutamine in animals given only ammonia. The redox state of the brain was altered following ammonia intoxication. The ratio of lactate to pyruvate in the cytosol increased while that of glutamate to alpha-ketoglutarate in the mitochondria decreased. These ratios were partially restored by L-carnitine. The implications of these findings are discussed relative to the mechanism of ammonia toxicity.
Also, this from Rich. Interesting what he says about ammonia and mitochondria because Carnitine is supposed to improve mitochondrial function.
Ammonia is produced in the body in three ways that I know of. Normally, the main one is the burning of amino acids for fuel by the mitochondria. When this is done, the nitrogen has to be disposed of, and that is done by carrying it, mostly in glutamine, via the blood to the liver, where the urea cycle converts it into urea. The urea is put back into the blood and is extracted by the kidneys, which excrete it into the urine.
Ammonia can also be produced via the transsulfuration pathway, which is why Dr. Yasko recommends lowering the B6 intake if a person has an upregulated CBS enzyme.
The third way ammonia is produced is by anaerobic bacteria in the gut. If this gets too high, and the liver cannot deal with it, so that the ammonia level rises in the blood, it can cause trouble in the brain, called hepatic encephalopathy.
If the urine tends to be too much on the acid side, because of a person's diet or another cause, the kidneys can produce ammonia from glutamine and put it in the urine to balance the acid. This prevents frying one's nether parts! -)
If the bacteria in the gut are producing too much ammonia, they will need to be dealt with. The treatment for high ammonia in the blood coming from the gut includes giving oral levulose. Bacteria in the gut will convert this to lactic acid, pushing the pH in the gut in the acid direction. That will cause ammonia (NH3), which is a gas, to shift more to NH4+, ammonium ion, which will stay in solution and pass out in the stools rather than diffusing from the gut into the bloodstream.
The situation involving B6 is complicated. If a person has a CBS upregulating SNP, it's a good idea not to go too high on B6 until this is dealt with. Later on, it is important to have enough B6 so that the transsulfuration pathway can proceed at a normal rate. Also, B6 is needed to make some of the neurotransmitters, and it's also very important in the metabolism of the amino acids, to name a few. So in the longer term, B6 needs to be brought up, and B2 is needed also, to convert B6 to its active form, P5P.