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Metabolic Alterations Associated with γ-Hydroxybutyric Acid and the Potential of Metabolites as Biomarkers of Its Exposure

γ-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) is an endogenous short chain fatty acid that acts as a neurotransmitter and neuromodulator in the mammalian brain. It has often been illegally abused or misused due to its strong anesthetic effect, particularly in drug-facilitated crimes worldwide. However, proving its in...

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Autores principales: Jung, Suryun, Kim, Suji, Seo, Yujin, Lee, Sooyeun
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7916753/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33578991
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/metabo11020101
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author Jung, Suryun
Kim, Suji
Seo, Yujin
Lee, Sooyeun
author_facet Jung, Suryun
Kim, Suji
Seo, Yujin
Lee, Sooyeun
author_sort Jung, Suryun
collection PubMed
description γ-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) is an endogenous short chain fatty acid that acts as a neurotransmitter and neuromodulator in the mammalian brain. It has often been illegally abused or misused due to its strong anesthetic effect, particularly in drug-facilitated crimes worldwide. However, proving its ingestion is not straightforward because of the difficulty in distinguishing between endogenous and exogenous GHB, as well as its rapid metabolism. Metabolomics and metabolism studies have recently been used to identify potential biomarkers of GHB exposure. This mini-review provides an overview of GHB-associated metabolic alterations and explores the potential of metabolites for application as biomarkers of GHB exposure. For this, we discuss the biosynthesis and metabolism of GHB, analytical issues of GHB in biological samples, alterations in metabolic pathways, and changes in the levels of GHB conjugates in biological samples from animal and human studies. Metabolic alterations in organic acids, amino acids, and polyamines in urine enable discrimination between GHB-ingested animals or humans and controls. The potential of GHB conjugates has been investigated in a variety of clinical settings. Despite the recent growth in the application of metabolomics and metabolism studies associated with GHB exposure, it remains challenging to distinguish between endogenous and exogenous GHB. This review highlights the significance of further metabolomics and metabolism studies for the discovery of practical peripheral biomarkers of GHB exposure.
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spelling pubmed-79167532021-03-01 Metabolic Alterations Associated with γ-Hydroxybutyric Acid and the Potential of Metabolites as Biomarkers of Its Exposure Jung, Suryun Kim, Suji Seo, Yujin Lee, Sooyeun Metabolites Review γ-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) is an endogenous short chain fatty acid that acts as a neurotransmitter and neuromodulator in the mammalian brain. It has often been illegally abused or misused due to its strong anesthetic effect, particularly in drug-facilitated crimes worldwide. However, proving its ingestion is not straightforward because of the difficulty in distinguishing between endogenous and exogenous GHB, as well as its rapid metabolism. Metabolomics and metabolism studies have recently been used to identify potential biomarkers of GHB exposure. This mini-review provides an overview of GHB-associated metabolic alterations and explores the potential of metabolites for application as biomarkers of GHB exposure. For this, we discuss the biosynthesis and metabolism of GHB, analytical issues of GHB in biological samples, alterations in metabolic pathways, and changes in the levels of GHB conjugates in biological samples from animal and human studies. Metabolic alterations in organic acids, amino acids, and polyamines in urine enable discrimination between GHB-ingested animals or humans and controls. The potential of GHB conjugates has been investigated in a variety of clinical settings. Despite the recent growth in the application of metabolomics and metabolism studies associated with GHB exposure, it remains challenging to distinguish between endogenous and exogenous GHB. This review highlights the significance of further metabolomics and metabolism studies for the discovery of practical peripheral biomarkers of GHB exposure. MDPI 2021-02-10 /pmc/articles/PMC7916753/ /pubmed/33578991 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/metabo11020101 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Jung, Suryun
Kim, Suji
Seo, Yujin
Lee, Sooyeun
Metabolic Alterations Associated with γ-Hydroxybutyric Acid and the Potential of Metabolites as Biomarkers of Its Exposure
title Metabolic Alterations Associated with γ-Hydroxybutyric Acid and the Potential of Metabolites as Biomarkers of Its Exposure
title_full Metabolic Alterations Associated with γ-Hydroxybutyric Acid and the Potential of Metabolites as Biomarkers of Its Exposure
title_fullStr Metabolic Alterations Associated with γ-Hydroxybutyric Acid and the Potential of Metabolites as Biomarkers of Its Exposure
title_full_unstemmed Metabolic Alterations Associated with γ-Hydroxybutyric Acid and the Potential of Metabolites as Biomarkers of Its Exposure
title_short Metabolic Alterations Associated with γ-Hydroxybutyric Acid and the Potential of Metabolites as Biomarkers of Its Exposure
title_sort metabolic alterations associated with γ-hydroxybutyric acid and the potential of metabolites as biomarkers of its exposure
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7916753/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33578991
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/metabo11020101
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