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HORMONES AND SIGNALING

Regulatory mechanisms underlying agmatine homeostasis in humans

¹Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and ³Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, University of Bonn; ²Department of Internal Medicine I and ⁵Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital of Bonn; ⁴Department of Surgery, Evangelische Kliniken Bonn, Betriebsstätte Waldkrankenhaus, Bonn, Germany

Submitted 12 June 2008 ; accepted in final form 25 September 2008

Regulation of agmatine homeostasis has so far only been poorly defined. In the present study, three mechanisms regulating human agmatine homeostasis were investigated. 1) Enzymatic regulation: expression of arginine decarboxylase, diamine oxidase, and ornithine decarboxylase in human colon neoplastic tissue was, at the mRNA level, about 75% and 50% lower and 150% higher, respectively, than in the adjacent normal tissue; expression of agmatinase was unchanged. 2) Bacteria-derived agmatine: ten representative bacteria strains of the human intestinal microbiota considerably differed in agmatine production and its efflux into their surrounding fluid, suggesting that the composition of the intestinal microbiota influences the agmatine availability in the gut lumen for absorption. 3) Regulation of blood plasma agmatine concentration by the human liver: at low concentrations in portal venous blood plasma, agmatine either slightly increased or further decreased in blood plasma through liver passage. Above a threshold of 14 ng/ml agmatine in the portal venous blood plasma, substantial hepatic agmatine removal from blood occurred. Taken together, a perturbation of agmatine homeostasis has been proven to be involved in the regulation of malignant cell proliferation. The amount of agmatine available for absorption, which is an important physiological source of agmatine in the human organism, should differ considerably depending on the composition of the bacterial flora in the chyme since the various species of intestinal bacteria largely differ in their ability to form agmatine. Finally, evidence has been presented that the liver plays a crucial physiological role in the maintenance of agmatine homeostasis in the human organism.

intestinal bacterial microflora; colon cancer; arginine decarboxylase; liver cirrhosis; hepatic agmatine uptake