| Description | Trimethylamine, also known as NMe3, N(CH3)3, and TMA, is a colorless, hygroscopic, and flammable simple amine with a typical fishy odor in low concentrations and an ammonia like odor in higher concentrations. Trimethylamine has a boiling point of 2.9 degree centigrade and is a gas at room temperature. Trimethylamine usually comes in pressurized gas cylinders or as a 40% solution in water. Trimethylamine is a nitrogenous base and its positively charged cation is called trimethylammonium cation. A common salt of trimethylamine is trimethylammonium chloride, a hygroscopic colorless solid. Trimethylamine is a product of decomposition of plants and animals. It is the substance mainly responsible for the fishy odor often associated with fouling fish, bacterial vagina infections, and bad breath. It is also associated with taking large doses of choline. Trimethylaminuria is a genetic disorder in which the body is unable to metabolize trimethylamine from food sources. Patients develop a characteristic fish odour of their sweat, urine, and breath after the consumption of choline-rich foods. Trimethylaminuria is an autosomal recessive disorder involving a trimethylamine oxidase deficiency. Trimethylaminuria has also been observed in a certain breed of Rhode Island Red chicken that produces eggs with a fishy smell. Trimethylamine in the urine is a biomarker for the consumption of legumes. It has also been found to be a product of various types of bacteria, such as Achromobacter, Acinetobacter, Actinobacteria, Aeromonas, Alcaligenes, Alteromonas, Anaerococcus, Bacillus, Bacteroides, Bacteroidetes, Burkholderia, Campylobacter, Citrobacter, Clostridium, Desulfitobacterium, Desulfovibrio, Desulfuromonas, Edwardsiella, Enterobacter, Enterococcus, Escherichia, Eubacterium, Firmicutes, Flavobacterium, Gammaproteobacteria, Haloanaerobacter, Klebsiella, Micrococcus, Mobiluncus, Olsenella, Photobacterium, Proteobacteria, Proteus, Providencia, Pseudomonas, Rhodopseudomonas, Ruminococcus, Salmonella, Sarcina, Serratia, Shewanella, Shigella, Sinorhizobium, Sporomusa, Staphylococcus, Stigmatella, Streptococcus, Vibrio and Yokenella (PMID:26687352 ; PMID:25108210 ; PMID:24909875 ; PMID:28506279 ; PMID:27190056 ). Trimethylamine is a marker for urinary tract infection brought on by E. coli. (PMID:25108210 ; PMID:24909875 ). It has also been identified as a uremic toxin according to the European Uremic Toxin Working Group (PMID:22626821 ). |
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