Glycine The simplest amino acid

1. Basic Information of Glycine

Glycine (abbreviated as Gly), also known as glycine, is the simplest amino acid among the 20 members of the amino acid series, and is a non-essential amino acid for the human body. Exogenous supplementation, sometimes called semi-essential amino acids, is often required when the body is under severe stress.

Glycine is a conditionally essential amino acid discovered by the French chemist Henri Braconnot in 1820 by acid hydrolysis of gelatin, and is the simplest amino acid in nature, with a single hydrogen atom as its side chain. Glycine is as sweet as glucose, and its name comes from the Greek word glykys (meaning sweet).

Glycine is an essential conditional amino acid for humans. Dietary requirements are estimated at about 12 grams per day, and insufficient glycine is not life-threatening, but chronic shortages may adversely affect collagen turnover and glutathione status, potentially increasing levels of oxidative stress and the risk of bone and joint disease.

 

2. Physiological effects of glycine

Glycine is an amino acid and neurotransmitter that acts as a stimulus and inhibitor in the brain, and supplementation can improve sleep quality. It is an essential amino acid for the central nervous system and prostate, and it delays muscle degeneration by supplying more creatine.

Glycine stimulates the secretion of glucagon, a polypeptide hormone secreted by pancreatic cells that promotes the breakdown of glycogen and increases blood sugar levels.

Glycine has always been considered to be the most important inhibitory neurotransmitter besides GABA. It is widely distributed in the CNS and plays an important basic role in the transmission of nerve signals and participation in various physiological and pathological responses.

In the central nervous system, especially in the spine, glycine and glutamate are both agonists. If glycine receptors are activated, chloride ions enter nerve cells through ion receptors and cause inhibitory postsynaptic potentials.

Glycine can be used in the pharmaceutical industry, biochemical tests and organic synthesis. Its inhibitory effect helps prevent epilepsy and treat diseases such as bipolar depression, hypoglycemia, myasthenia gravis and progressive muscle atrophy.

If the human body consumes too much glycine, it will not only be unable to be absorbed and utilized by the human body, but also will break the human body's absorption balance of amino acids and affect the absorption of other amino acids, resulting in nutritional imbalance and affecting health. Milk-containing beverages produced with glycine as the main raw material are likely to have adverse effects on the normal growth and development of adolescents and children.

 

3. Industrial application of glycine

Food application: used as food additives and nutritional supplements, mainly used for seasoning and other aspects, anti-oxidation (using its metal chelation effect) added to cream, cheese, margarine can prolong the shelf life by 3 to 4 times;

 

Medicinal uses: used as medicine for medical microorganism and biochemical amino acid metabolism research; used as chlortetracycline buffer, anti-Parkinson's disease drug L-dopa, vitamin B6, and threonine and other amino acids synthesis raw materials; and aspirin Combined use can reduce its irritation to the stomach; as a nitrogen source for generating non-essential amino acids, it is added to the mixed amino acid injection.

 

Agricultural use: Mainly used as an additive and attractant for adding amino acids to feed for poultry, livestock, especially pets, etc.; used as an additive for hydrolyzed protein, as a synergist for hydrolyzed protein; used in the production of pesticides to synthesize pyrethroids to kill insects Glycine ethyl ester hydrochloride, the intermediate of the agent, can also synthesize fungicides and herbicides;

 

Reagent use: used in peptide synthesis, used as amino acid protection monomer; used in the preparation of tissue culture medium, and the inspection of copper, gold and silver; because glycine is a zwitterion with amino and carboxyl groups, it has strong buffering properties. Often used as a preparation buffer.