Abstract: As a new neurotransmitter present in the glial cells, D-serine (DSer) plays an important role in central nervous system diseases. Pyrroloquinoline quinine (PQQ) can promote the production of the nerve growth factor and has a protective effect on nerve injuries. The chemical kinetics of PQQ and DSer was studied by determining the free contents of PQQ using ion-pair liquid chromatography (LC), so it can provide important information for the mechanisms of PQQ in the regulation of neurotransmitter. The PQQ and the production of the incubation were separated on an Amethyst C18-P column using tetrabutylammonium bromide as ion-pair reagent. The average recoveries were between 94.2% and 99.3%, and the relative standard deviations were between 1.05% and 2.03%. The average rate constants (K) of PQQ with DSer were 0.032, 0.07 and 0.17 h~1 at 25, 37 and 50 ℃, respectively. The average activation energy (Ea) was 54.7 kJ/mol. The values of half life (t1/2) were 22.0, 9.8 and 3.99 h at 25, 37 and 50 ℃, respectively. The results showed that PQQ can regulate the balance of DSer in the brain. The method is simple and reliable.

Key words: chemical kinetics, D-serine, pyrroloquinoline quinine, ion-pair liquid chromatography