. 2011 Aug 30;286(42):36258–36267. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M111.265348

TABLE 2.

Deletion of Bhmt results in reduced methylation potential and increased homocyteine concentrations

Tissues were harvested from 5-week-old Bhmt^+/+ and Bhmt^−/− mice. Hepatic homocysteine metabolites were quantified by capillary stable isotope dilution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Hepatic AdoMet, AdoHcy, and plasma total homocysteine and cysteine were quantified by high pressure liquid chromatography. Plasma total folate was quantified by a microbial (L. casei) assay. Data are presented as mean ± S.E., n = 5–6 per group.

Organ	Metabolites	Bhmt^+/+	Bhmt^−/−
Liver	AdoMet (nmol/g tissue)	76.4 ± 3.7	43.5 ± 5.7^a
	AdoHcy (nmol/g tissue)	21.8 ± 1.7	54.4 ± 7.7^a
	AdoMet:AdoHcy	3.6 ± 0.2	0.9 ± 0.1^a
	tHomocysteine (nmol/g tissue)	4.2 ± 0.3	26.5 ± 5.5^a
	Methionine (nmol/g tissue)	223 ± 26	242 ± 23
	Dimethylglycine (nmol/g tissue)	48.2 ± 19.0	2.2 ± 0.2^a
	Methylglycine (nmol/g tissue)	20.2 ± 8.9	52.7 ± 12.2^b
	Cystathionine (nmol/g tissue)	32.0 ± 15.7	20.3 ± 5.8
	Cysteine (nmol/g tissue)	247 ± 25	291 ± 25
	Glycine (nmol/g tissue)	1,659 ± 128	1,561 ± 135

Plasma	tHomocysteine (μm)	6.5 ± 0.7	50.8 ± 5.9^a
	Cysteine (μm)	131.1 ± 9.9	68.4 ± 9.3^a
	tFolate (ng/ml)	81.7 ± 6.4	52.8 ± 5.1^a

^a p < 0.01, different from Bhmt^+/+ by Student's t test.

^b p < 0.05, different from Bhmt^+/+ by Student's t test.