Ornithine carbamyl transferase as a liver function test comparative studies in the dog, swine, and man

Abstract

Selective tissue damage was induced in groups of dogs and swine, either chemically by the nephrotoxic agent uranyl nitrate or the hepatoxic agent carbon tetrachloride, or surgically by biliary duct or coronary artery ligation. Human cases with myocardial infarction, pulmonary edema, myositis, viral and toxic hepatitis were included in this study. The following blood assays were monitored throughout the study: Cell counts, hemoglobin, hematocrit, coagulation tests, blood urea nitrogen, fasting blood sugar, isocitric dehydrogenase, lactic dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, ornithine carbamyl transferase, glutamic oxaloacetic and glutamic pyruvic transaminase. Our data show that ornithine carbamyl transferase became elevated only when the hepatic parenchyma was damaged, and that this elevation became evident just as early and was much higher than that of the other enzymes assayed.