Paracetamol impairs the profile of amino acids in the rat brain

•Paracetamol interferes with the profile of amino acids in the brain.•Amino acids were determined in the cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus and striatum.•Major changes in the concentration of amino acids were found in the striatum.•Striatal glutamine, glutamic acid, taurine, alanine and aspartic acid were reduced.•Minor changes were detected in hypothalamus and prefrontal cortex.

In our experiment we investigated the effect of subcutaneous administration of paracetamol on the levels of amino acids in the brain structures. Male Wistar rats received for eight weeks paracetamol at two doses: 10 mg/kg b.w. (group P10, n = 9) and 50 mg/kg b.w. per day s.c. (group P50, n = 9).The regional brain concentrations of amino acids were determined in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus and striatum of control (Con, n = 9) and paracetamol-treated groups using HPLC. Evaluation of the biochemical results indicated considerable decrease of the content of amino acids in the striatum (glutamine, glutamic acid, taurine, alanine, aspartic acid) and hypothalamus (glycine) between groups treated with paracetamol compared to the control. In the prefrontal cortex paracetamol increased the level of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The present study demonstrated significant effect of the long term paracetamol treatment on the level of amino acids in the striatum, prefrontal cortex and hypothalamus of rats.