Serum homocysteine, arginine, citrulline and asymmetric dimethyl arginine levels, and histopathologic examination of the abdominal aorta in rats exposed to acrylamide.

We investigated serum homocysteine, arginine, citrulline and asymmetric dimethyl arginine (ADMA) levels and conducted a histopathologic examination of the abdominal aorta in rats given acrylamide (AA) for long periods. We used 25 male and 25 female Wistar rats. Females were divided into three groups; two were experimental groups and one was the control group. Each experimental group consisted of ten animals and each control group consisted of five animals; male animals were divided in the same way. AA, 2 or 5 mg/kg/day, was administered to the experimental groups in drinking water for 90 days. At the end of the experiment, serum samples were analyzed for homocysteine, arginine, citrulline and ADMA using high performance liquid chromatography. Serum homocysteine, citrulline and ADMA levels were significantly higher than controls in both female and male rats when AA was administered at a concentration of 5 mg/kg/day. Serum citrulline levels also were significantly higher than controls when administered AA at a concentration of 2 mg/kg/day in female rats. There was no difference in serum arginine levels among the groups. Histopathologic examination of the abdominal aorta revealed degeneration of the external elastic lamina in rats treated with 5 mg/kg/day AA. Our findings show that long term ingestion of high dose AA with food might contribute to the development of atherosclerosis.