TY - JOUR A2 - Talbot, Sebastien AU - Ramos-Chávez, L. A. AU - Lugo Huitrón, R. AU - González Esquivel, D. AU - Pineda, B. AU - Ríos, C. AU - Silva-Adaya, D. AU - Sánchez-Chapul, L. AU - Roldán-Roldán, G. AU - Pérez de la Cruz, V. PY - 2018 DA - 2018/05/24 TI - Relevance of Alternative Routes of Kynurenic Acid Production in the Brain SP - 5272741 VL - 2018 AB - The catabolism of tryptophan has gained great importance in recent years due to the fact that the metabolites produced during this process, with neuroactive and redox properties, are involved in physiological and pathological events. One of these metabolites is kynurenic acid (KYNA), which is considered as a neuromodulator since it can interact with NMDA, nicotinic, and GPR35 receptors among others, modulating the release of neurotransmitters as glutamate, dopamine, and acetylcholine. Kynureninate production is attributed to kynurenine aminotransferases. However, in some physiological and pathological conditions, its high production cannot be explained just with kynurenine aminotransferases. This review focuses on the alternative mechanism whereby KYNA can be produced, either from D-amino acids or by means of other enzymes as D-amino acid oxidase or by the participation of free radicals. It is important to mention that an increase in KYNA levels in processes as brain development, aging, neurodegenerative diseases, and psychiatric disorders, which share common factors as oxidative stress, inflammation, immune response activation, and participation of gut microbiota that can also be related with the alternative routes of KYNA production, has been observed. SN - 1942-0900 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/5272741 DO - 10.1155/2018/5272741 JF - Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity PB - Hindawi KW - ER -