* Breathing Trimethylamine can irritate the lungs causing coughing and/or shortness of breath. Higher exposures can cause a build-up of fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema), a medical emergency, with severe shortness of breath. * Trimethylamine is a HIGHLY FLAMMABLE LIQUID or GAS and a DANGEROUS FIRE HAZARD.

Trimethylamine is initially generated by gut bacteria as a by-product of the metabolism of dietary nutrients such as choline. Trimethylamine is then eliminated in many host species (including humans and rats) by a liver and kidney catabolism enzyme (flavin monooxygenase 3 or FMO3).

Trimethylamine is a full agonist of human TAAR5, a trace amine-associated receptor that is expressed in the olfactory epithelium and functions as an olfactory receptor for tertiary amines. One or more additional odorant receptors appear to be involved in trimethylamine olfaction in humans as well.

3. Identification of TMA formation potential in bacterial isolates

gut microbiota
Trimethylamine (TMA), produced by the gut microbiota from dietary quaternary amines (mainly choline and carnitine), is associated with atherosclerosis and severe cardiovascular disease.

1. The condition trimethylaminuria, is more commonly known as fish odour syndrome, it currently has no cure.
2. The syndrome occurs when an unpleasant smelling chemical trimethylamine (TMA) can’t be broken down by the liver into a different chemical that doesn’t smell.

TMAO (or trimethylamine N-oxide) is a metabolite produced by gut bacteria. Briefly, nutrients such as phosphatidylcholine (also known as lecithin), choline, and L-carnitine are abundant in animal-derived products such as red meat, egg yolk and full-fat dairy products.

The milk from wheat-fed cows contains trimethylamine, while foods that contain choline include:

• eggs.
• liver.
• kidney.
• beans.
• peanuts.
• peas.
• soy products.
• brassica vegetables, such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts.

TMAO is associated with unfavorable metabolic and cardiovascular effects. Since one of the substances used for microbial TMA production is choline, reducing high-choline-containing foods in the diet may be one of the options for improving this pattern.

The gut microbe-derived metabolite trimethylamine- N -oxide (TMAO) has recently been linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD) pathogenesis, prompting the development of therapeutic strategies to reduce TMAO.

Recently, mechanism-based small molecule inhibitors of the major bacterial trimethylamine (TMA) lyase enzymes have been developed, and these drugs show efficacy as anti-atherothrombotic agents.

This study confirms previous observations that the gut microbial TMAO pathway is intimately linked to host cholesterol and bile acid metabolism and provides further rationale for the development of small molecule choline TMA lyase inhibitors for the treatment of cardiometabolic disorders.