Tissue protein breakdown in burns

Abstract

A study was made of the autolytic activity of tissues and transaminase activity of rabbit serum with experimentally induced burns. As established, on the 2nd day after the burn there was a considerable rise in the activity of glutamico-oxaloacetic and glutamico-puropyruvic transaminases with a subsequent normalization of these indices. The autolytic activity of the tissues studied remained within the normal range on the 2nd day. Four days after the burn and during the subsequent periods the autolytic activity is considerably, intensified in the skeletal muscle and in the liver at the expense of the enzymes acting in the acid medium. Oxygen absorption by the body rose directly after the experiment, normalized on the 2nd day and increased (+35%) during the 2nd and 3rd weeks of the disease. A rise of transaminase activity is considered to be the sequence of direct disturbance of amino acid metabolism, whereas autolysis intensification—the reflection of increased disintegration of intact tissues.