Glutamate Alanine Aminotransferase Research Articles

Clinical characteristics and short-term prognosis of 22 cases with SARS-CoV-2 infection associated acute encephalopathy

Objective: To investigate the clinical features and short-term prognosis of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection associated acute encephalopathy (AE). Methods: Retrospective cohort study. The clinical data, radiological features and short-term follow-up of 22 cases diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection associated AE in the Department of Neurology, Beijing Children's Hospital from December 2022 to January 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into cytokine storm group, excitotoxic brain damage group and unclassified encephalopathy group according to the the clinicopathological features and the imaging features. The clinical characteristics of each group were analyzed descriptively. Patients were divided into good prognosis group (≤2 scores) and poor prognosis group (>2 scores) based on the modified Rankin scale (mRS) score of the last follow-up. Fisher exact test or Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the two groups. Results: A total of 22 cases (12 females, 10 males) were included. The age of onset was 3.3 (1.7, 8.6) years. There were 11 cases (50%) with abnormal medical history, and 4 cases with abnormal family history. All the enrolled patients had fever as the initial clinical symptom, and 21 cases (95%) developed neurological symptoms within 24 hours after fever. The onset of neurological symptoms included convulsions (17 cases) and disturbance of consciousness (5 cases). There were 22 cases of encephalopathy, 20 cases of convulsions, 14 cases of speech disorders, 8 cases of involuntary movements and 3 cases of ataxia during the course of the disease. Clinical classification included 3 cases in the cytokine storm group, all with acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE); 9 cases in the excitotoxicity group, 8 cases with acute encephalopathy with biphasic seizures and late reduced diffusion (AESD) and 1 case with hemiconvulsion-hemiplegia syndrome; and 10 cases of unclassified encephalopathy. Laboratory studies revealed elevated glutathione transaminase in 9 cases, elevated glutamic alanine transaminase in 4 cases, elevated blood glucose in 3 cases, and elevated D-dimer in 3 cases. Serum ferritin was elevated in 3 of 5 cases, serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) neurofilament light chain protein was elevated in 5 of 9 cases, serum cytokines were elevated in 7 of 18 cases, and CSF cytokines were elevated in 7 of 8 cases. Cranial imaging abnormalities were noted in 18 cases, including bilateral symmetric lesions in 3 ANE cases and "bright tree appearance" in 8 AESD cases. All 22 cases received symptomatic treatment and immunotherapy (intravenous immunoglobulin or glucocorticosteroids), and 1 ANE patient received tocilizumab. The follow-up time was 50 (43, 53) d, and 10 patients had a good prognosis and 12 patients had a poor prognosis. No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of epidemiology, clinical manifestations, biochemical indices, and duration of illness to initiate immunotherapy (all P>0.05). Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 infection is also a major cause of AE. AESD and ANE are the common AE syndromes. Therefore, it is crucial to identify AE patients with fever, convulsions, and impaired consciousness, and apply aggressive therapy as early as possible.

Red-fleshed apple flavonoid extract alleviates CCl4-induced liver injury in mice.

In recent years, the global incidence of liver damage has increased. Despite the many known health benefits of red-fleshed apple flavonoids, their potential liver-protective effects have not yet been investigated. In this study, we analyzed the composition of red-fleshed apple flavonoid extract (RAFE) by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). We then induced liver damage in mice with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and performed interventions with RAFE to analyze its effect on liver damage, using bifendate as a positive control. The results showed that catechin was the most abundant flavonoid in 'XJ4' RAFE (49.346 mg/100 g). In liver-injured mice, the liver coefficients converged to normal levels following RAFE intervention. Moreover, RAFE significantly reduced the enzymatic activity levels of glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (ALT), glutamic alanine transaminase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in mouse serum. Furthermore, RAFE significantly increased the content or enzyme activity level of total glutathione, total antioxidant capacity, and superoxide dismutase, and significantly decreased the content of malondialdehyde in the liver of mice. In parallel, we performed histopathological observations of mouse livers for each group. The results showed that RAFE restored the pathological changes caused by CCl4 around the central hepatic vein in mice and resulted in tightly bound hepatocytes. The recovery effect of RAFE was dose-dependent in the liver tissue. Regarding intestinal microorganisms, we found that RAFE restored the microbial diversity in liver-injured mice, with a similar microbial composition in the RAFE intervention group and normal group. RAFE reduced the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes, increased the levels of probiotic bacteria, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, and Clostridium, and reduced the levels of harmful bacteria, such as Erysipelothrix Rosenbach. Therefore, RAFE ameliorated CCl4-induced liver damage by modulating the abundance and composition of intestinal microorganisms in mice. In conclusion, RAFE alleviated CCl4-induced liver damage in mice, with H-RAFE (5 mg kg-1) significantly improving liver damage in mice but M-RAFE (1 mg kg-1) significantly improving the imbalance of intestinal microorganisms in mice. Our research suggests that RAFE could be employed for the adjuvant treatment and prevention of liver damage, and may have important applications in food and medicine.

Dietary Astragalus membranaceus polysaccharide ameliorates the growth performance and innate immunity of juvenile crucian carp (Carassius auratus)

This study aimed to explore the effects of Astragalus membranaceus polysaccharide (AMP) on the growth and innate immunity of crucian carp (Carassius auratus). Crucian carps were randomly divided into a control group (fed with basal diet) and three AMP groups (received basal diet supplemented with 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg AMP). After 60 days of culture, the crucian carps from each group were weighed, and their immune indexes were measured. Another batch crucian carps from each group was injected with 0.15 ml of 107 CFU/ml Aeromonas hydrophila. The body weight gain, feed conversion rate, specific growth rate and digestive enzyme activity of the crucian carps in the low and middle doses of AMP groups were higher than those in the control group. The AMP groups had significantly higher survival rate and alkaline phosphatase level but lower glutamic–oxaloacetic transaminase, glutamic-alanine transaminase and serum bacteria number compared with the control group. The optimal dose of dietary AMP required for the maximum growth of crucian carp was 100 mg/kg. These results showed that AMP could promote the growth of crucian carps, improve their disease resistance and thus may be developed as a dietary supplement.

Effects of medium-chain triglycerides on gluconeogenesis and ureagenesis in weaned rats fed a high fat diet

We explored the effects of Medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) on gluconeogenesis and ureagenesis in the liver of weaned male rats fed high fat, carbohydrate-free diets. The rats of three experimental groups and control were fed for 10 days. The diets were high fat, carbohydrate-free diets consisting either of a corn oil or MCT, and high protein carbohydrate-free diet and a control (high carbohydrate) diet. The hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) activity increased in the experimental groups. Despite the elevated G6Pase activity in these groups, hepatic activities of glutamic alanine transaminase (GAT), pyruvate carboxylase (PC) and arginase differed among the experimental groups. The HF-corn oil rats showed elevation of PC activity, but no elevation of GAT activity, and the lowest arginase activity among the three groups. The HF-MCT diet-fed rats showed higher GAT and arginase activities than the HF-corn oil group. In the HP diet-fed rats, GAT and arginase activities enhanced, PC did not.

Baseline Factors Associated with Mortality within Six Months after Admission among Hospitalized HIV-1 Patients in Shenyang, China

Short-term mortality rates remain high among critically ill human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) patients though long-term mortality rates have dropped. Baseline risk factors for short-term mortality have not yet been determined in China. In this paper, we herein describe clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, causes of clinical deterioration, and risk factors associated with mortality among HIV-1 patients within six months after hospital admission. We carried out a prospective study of hospitalized patients in advanced stages of HIV infection. These patients started antiretroviral therapy three or four weeks after admission. Follow-up was conducted for a period of six months. We used a multivariate logistic-regression analysis to identify risk factors associated with mortality. A total of 141 patients met our inclusion criteria. The mean age was 41 years. Fever and weight loss were the most common clinical manifestations of advanced HIV disease. Oral candidiasis, tuberculosis, cytomegaloviremia, and pneumocystis pneumonia were the most common opportunistic infections. Significantly decreased CD4+ T-cell counts, hypoalbuminemia, anemia, hyponatremia, as well as elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) and glutamic alanine transaminase levels were common laboratory test abnormalities. The mortality rate was 21.3%. The patients who died were more likely than the survivors to have low CD4+ T-cell counts as well as low creatinine, hemoglobin, albumin, and serum sodium levels while also having longer intervals of fever and higher CRP levels. A multivariate analysis demonstrated that the independent risk factors for mortality were active tuberculosis [odds ratio (OR): 2.681; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.006-7.142; p=0.049], hyponatremia (OR: 3.027; 95% CI, 1.238-7.401; p=0.015), and being at clinical stage 4 (as defined by the World Health Organization) (OR: 9.492; 95% CI, 1.200-75.065; p=0.033) within the first six months of admission. Special consideration should be given to patients who have active tuberculosis, are at clinical stage 4, and present with hyponatremia upon admission as these were found to be important factors associated with mortality within six months of hospital admission in HIV-1 patients.

Letter to the Editor Extra-gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the liver diagnosed by ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology: a and review of the literature

Letter to the Editor Extra-gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the liver diagnosed by ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology: a and review of the literature

Metabolism of 13C-enriched D-fructose in hepatocytes from Goto-Kakizaki rats

This study aims at assessing the conversion of exogenous D-[1-13C]fructose, D-[2-13C]fructose or D-[6-13C]-fructose (10 mM) to 13C-enriched and either hydrogenated or deuterated D-glucose, L-lactate and L-alanine released by rat liver cells prepared from Goto-Kakizaki rats and incubated for 120 min in the presence of unlabelled D-glucose (also 10 mM) and D2O. The results of this study are relevant to the relative contribution of fructokinase and hexokinase isoenzyme to the phosphorylation of D-fructose, the capacity of D-glucose to confer to glucokinase positive cooperativity towards D-fructose, the circulation of D-fructose 6-phosphate in the pentose phosphate pathway, the regulation of the cytosolic NADD/NADH ratio, the respective fate of D-fructose-derived D-glyceraldehyde and dihydroxyacetone phosphate, the deuteration of fructose-derived glycolytic intermediates at the phosphoglucoisomerase, phosphomannoisomerase, enolase, pyruvate kinase and glutamate-alanine transaminase levels, and the unequal generation of L-[1-13C]lactate by cells exposed to D-[1-13C]fructose or D-[6-13C]fructose versus D-[2-13C]-fructose.

Changes in intracellular concentration of amino acids in human saphenous vein during preparation for coronary artery bypass grafting

Earlier research on human skeletal and cardiac muscle has shown a fall in the intracellular free amino acid pool, particularly the non-essential amino acids, during surgery. Surgical preparation of the human saphenous vein for coronary artery by pass grafting has been shown to provoke metabolic damage and may therefore induce changes in cellular amino acids which may have long-term implications for the performance of the grafted vein. This work investigates the hypothesis that surgical preparation of saphenous vein induces changes in amino acids. Changes in the intracellular free amino acid pool were monitored, using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), in both freshly isolated and surgically prepared human saphenous veins during coronary artery bypass grafting. In order to asses the extent of metabolic damage incurred by surgical preparation, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels were also measured. A substantial fall in intracellular free amino acid was associated with surgical preparation of human saphenous vein for coronary artery bypass grafting (190.8 +/- 25 to 106 +/- 18 mumol.g-1 protein, n = 10, P < 0.05). Although the fall was seen in most amino acids detected, it was marked and statistically significant (P < 0.05) for taurine (30.6 +/- 3.1 to 9.0 +/- 2.2 mumol.g-1 protein), glutamate (43.6 +/- 5.6 to 18.2 +/- 4.5 mumol.g-1 protein), glutamine (12.8 +/- 1.6 to 3.3 +/- 1.2 mumol.g-1 protein) and asparagine (9.6 +/- 1.6 to 4.1 +/- 1.0 mumol.g-1 protein). The fall in tissue taurine which would be largely due to transport showed a strong positive correlation with the fall seen in glutamate, glutamine and asparagine. ATP levels significantly decreased as a result of surgical preparation (279 +/- 44 to 96 +/- 21 nmol.g-1 wet weight, P < 0.05). The fall in ATP was accompanied by an increase in alanine/glutamate ratio which may reflect increased glutamate-alanine transaminase activity and therefore metabolic changes. The metabolic damage associated with surgical preparation of human saphenous vein for coronary artery bypass grafting is accompanied by a fall in the intracellular free amino acid pool which is marked and statistically significant for glutamate, taurine, glutamine and asparagine. The fall is likely to be due to transport metabolism may also contribute. This may have important implications for the functional recovery of the grated vein.

Metabolic response to nonglucidic nutrient secretagogues and enzymatic activities in pancreatic islets of adult rats after neonatal streptozotocin administration.

In islets from adult rats injected with streptozotocin during the neonatal period, both a nonmetabolized analog of L-leucine and 3-phenylpyruvate augmented 14CO2 output from islets either prelabeled with L-[U-14C]glutamine or exposed to D-[2-14C]glucose and D-[6-14C]glucose, in a manner qualitatively comparable to that found in islets from control rats. The islets of diabetic rats differed, however, from those of control rats by their unresponsiveness to both the L-leucine analog and a high concentration of D-glucose in terms of increasing 3HOH generation from [2-3H]glycerol, an impaired sparing action of the hexose upon 14CO2 output from islets prelabeled with [U-14C]palmitate, and, most importantly, by a decreased rate of D-[2-14C]glucose and D-[6-14C]glucose oxidation when either incubated at a high concentration of the hexose (16.7 mM) or stimulated by nonglucidic nutrient secretagogues at a low concentration of D-glucose (2.8 mM). In islet homogenates, the activity of glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase, glutamate decarboxylase, and NADP-malate dehydrogenase was lower in diabetic than control islets. Such was not the case for glutamate-alanine transaminase, glutamate-aspartate transaminase, or glutamate dehydrogenase. The neonatal injection of streptozotocin thus affected, in the adult rats, the activity of several islet enzymes. Nevertheless, the metabolic data suggest that an impaired circulation in the glycerol phosphate shuttle, as observed in response to stimulation of the islets by either a high concentration of D-glucose or nonglucidic nutrient secretagogues, represents an essential determinant of the preferential impairment of glucose-induced insulin release in this model of non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

Differential sensitivity to beta-cell secretagogues in cultured rat pancreatic islets exposed to human interleukin-1 beta.

The early stages of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus are characterized by a selective inability to secrete insulin in response to glucose, coupled to a better response to nonnutrient secretagogues. The deficient glucose response may be a result of the autoimmune process directed toward the beta-cells. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) has been suggested to be one possible mediator of immunological damage of the beta-cells. In the present study we characterized the sensitivity of beta-cells to different secretagogues after human recombinant IL-1 beta (rIL-1 beta) exposure. Furthermore, experiments were performed to clarify the biochemical mechanisms behind the defective insulin response observed in these islets. Rat pancreatic islets were isolated and kept in tissue culture (medium RPMI-1640 plus 10% calf serum) for 5 days. The islets were subsequently exposed to 60 pM human recombinant IL-1 beta during 48 h in the same culture conditions as above and examined immediately after IL-1 exposure. The rIL-1 beta-treated islets showed a marked reduction of glucose-stimulated insulin release. Stimulation with arginine plus different glucose concentrations, and leucine plus glutamine partially counteracted the rIL-1 beta-induced reduction of insulin release. The activities of the glycolytic enzymes hexokinase, glucokinase, and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, were similar in control and IL-1-exposed islets. Treatment with IL-1 also did not impair the activities of NADH+- and NADPH+-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase, glutamate-aspartate transaminase, glutamate-alanine transaminase, citrate synthase, and NAD+-linked isocitrate dehydrogenase. The oxidation of D-[6-14C]glucose and L-[U-14C]leucine were decreased by 50% in IL-1-treated islets. Furthermore, there was a significant decrease in the ratios of [2-14C]pyruvate oxidation/[1-14C]pyruvate decarboxylation and L-[U-14C]leucine oxidation/L-[1-14C]leucine decarboxylation, indicating that IL-1 decreases the proportion of generated acetyl-coenzyme-A residues undergoing oxidation. However, in the presence of IL-1 there was a significant increase in L-[U-14C]glutamate oxidation. These combined observations suggest that exposure to IL-1 induces a preferential decrease in glucose-mediated insulin release and mitochondrial glucose metabolism. This mitochondrial dysfunction seems to reflect an impairment in proximal steps of the Krebs cycle. It is conceivable that the IL-1-induced suppression and shift in islet metabolism can be an explanation for the beta-cell insensitivity to glucose observed in the early phases of human and experimental insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Ammonia assimilation in Bacillus polymyxa. 15N NMR and enzymatic studies.

Pathways of ammonia assimilation into glutamic acid and alanine in Bacillus polymyxa were investigated by 15N NMR spectroscopy in combination with measurements of the specific activities of glutamate dehydrogenase, glutamine synthetase, glutamate synthetase, alanine dehydrogenase, and glutamic-alanine transaminase. Ammonia was found to be assimilated into glutamic acid predominantly by NADPH-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase with a Km of 2.9 mM for NH4+ not only in ammonia-grown cells but also in nitrate-grown and nitrogen-fixing cells in which the intracellular NH4+ concentrations were 11.2, 1.04, and 1.5 mM, respectively. In ammonia-grown cells, the specific activity of alanine dehydrogenase was higher than that of glutamic-alanine transaminase, but the glutamate dehydrogenase/glutamic-alanine transaminase pathway was found to be the major pathway of 15NH4+ assimilation into [15N]alanine. The in vitro specific activities of glutamate dehydrogenase and glutamine synthetase, which represent the rates of synthesis of glutamic acid and glutamine, respectively, in the presence of enzyme-saturating concentrations of substrates and coenzymes are compared with the in vivo rates of biosynthesis of [15N]glutamic acid and [alpha,gamma-15N]glutamine observed by NMR, and implications of the results for factors limiting the rates of their biosynthesis in ammonia- and nitrate-grown cells are discussed.

43] Glutamine transaminase L from rat liver

This chapter discusses the purification procedure of glutamine transaminase L from rat liver. The isolation procedure yields a preparation of glutamine transaminase that is devoid of glutamate–aspartate transaminase, glutamate–alanine transaminase, and ω-amidase. The enzyme is moderately stable and may be stored for at least 3 months at 4 ° in 10 m M potassium phosphate buffer, pH 7.2, containing 10% glycerol, 1 m M 2-mercaptoethanol, and 10 μ M pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. Several properties of soluble glutamine transaminase L are reviewed in the chapter. The enzyme has an estimated molecular weight of 110,000 and is composed of two identical subunits. It contains tightly bound pyridoxal 5'-phosphate, which is difficult to remove even under denaturing conditions. The enzyme is inhibited by hydroxylamine, cycloserine, and aminooxyacetate. In the purification of mitochondrial glutamine transaminase L, the starting material is the mitochondrial pellet. Mitochondrial glutamine transaminase L copurifies with ω-amidase during ammonium sulfate fractionation but is much more strongly retained on DE-52.

12] Glutamate-alanine transaminase

Publisher Summary Glutamate–alanine transaminase is widely distributed. However, its activity in mammalian tissues is somewhat lower than that of glutamic–oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT). In the rat, highest activity is found in the liver with small amounts in skeletal muscle, heart, brain, and very little activity in kidney. The reaction catalyzed by glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) can be assayed in either direction. The reaction can be quantitated in the reverse direction by coupling α-ketoglutarate to the glutamate dehydrogenase reaction and noting the rate of decrease of absorbance at 340 nm of NADH. Appropriate blanks are necessary because pyruvate is a substrate of glutamate dehydrogenase. As for the GOT reaction, pyruvate formation can be measured by the 2, 4-dinitrophenylhydrazone method. The pyruvate-2, 4-dinitrophenylhydrazone can be selectively extracted into toluene. This modification has the advantage that the assay can be carried out with optimum α-ketoglutarate concentrations.

Inhibition of glutamate-aspartate transaminase by β-methylene- DL-aspartate

β-Methylene- DL-aspartate, a new β,γ-unsaturated amino acid, is an irreversible inhibitor of soluble pig heart glutamate-aspartate transaminase ( K i − 3 mM with respect to the L-form; limiting rate constant for inactivation ∼ 0.4 min −1). The new amino acid is the most specific inhibitor of glutamate-aspartate transaminase thus far studied. It does not inactivate pig heart glutamate-alanine transaminase, soluble rat kidney glutamine transaminase K, γ-aminobutyrate transaminase (from Pseudomonas fluorescens), glutamate decarboxylase ( Escherichia coli), snake venom L-amino acid oxidase, or hog kidney D-amino acid oxidase. In addition, the following enzymes were not inhibited by β-methylene- DL-aspartate in rat tissue homogenates: γ-aminobutyrate transaminase (brain), tyrosine transaminase (liver), glutamine transaminase L (liver), asparagine transaminase (liver), ornithine transaminase (liver) or branch-chain transaminase(s) (kidney). Intraperitoneal injection of β-methylene- DL-aspartate into mice decreased kidney and liver glutamate-aspartate transaminase activities but had no effect on liver glutamate-alanine transaminase activity.

Polarimetry as a general method for enzyme assays

A polarimetric assay has been used for a number of enzymes catalyzing different types of reaction including several peptidases, phosphohexose isomerase, glutamate decarboxylase, and glutamate-alanine transaminase. The limitations and requirements of the method for these and certain other enzymes are discussed.

Fate of Pyruvate, Formed Nonphosphorolytically from Gluconate by Extracts of Aspergillus niger

Summary Pyruvate formed nonphosphorolytically from gluconate by extracts of Aspergillus niger was found to be converted into alanine by a glutamate-alanine transaminase in these extracts. The reverse reaction was demonstrated. Addition of pyridoxal phosphate stimulated the transaminase activity, especially when dialyzed extracts were used. However, dialysis of crude extracts for 24 hrs. did not seem to produce pyridoxal phosphate-free extracts. Optimum activity was obtained over a wide range of temperature (20–40 °C) and at a p H. value ranging from 7.5–8.0.

Effect of high protein feeding on gluconeogenesis in rat liver.

Although alanine (A) is the major substrate for hepatic gluconeogenesis, it is utilized less effectively than pyruvate or lactate, thus suggesting that glutamic alanine transaminase (GAT) regulates A conversion to glucose. To test this hypothesis incorporation of A and pyruvate into glucose, glycogen and protein by isolated livers of rats fed a high protein (HP) diet was determined and compared with that by liver of normally fed animals. Effect of HP feeding on transport of α-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB), a nonutiliz-able amino acid, into liver was investigated. Liver GAT and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) activities were determined. HP feeding produced a twofold increase in conversion of A to glucose when perfusate A-concentration was physiological (0.5 mM) and when excess A was present. Liver glycogen synthesis from A was less than that of glucose and was unaffected by HP feeding. Incorporation of A into protein by control and HP livers was negligible. Hepatic conversion of pyruvate to glucose was markedly enhanced by the HP diet whereas glycogen synthesis from pyruvate was limited and not affected by HP feeding. AIB transport by liver of HP fed rats was double that of control liver. Liver GAT and PEPCK activities were greatly increased by HP feeding. Increased gluconeogenesis in HP liver at physiological and excess perfusate A concentrations indicates that amino acid transport and transamination are stimulated since other investigations have demonstrated that at low A levels transport is rate limiting and at high A concentrations, transamination controls gluconeogenesis. Furthermore, we observed increased AIB transport and elevated GAT activity in HP liver, thus it is clear that the GAT does not alone control conversion of A to glucose. Increased gluconeogenesis from pyruvate and elevated PEPCK activity were found suggesting that HP feeding stimulates conversion of pyruvate to phosphoenolpyruvate. The effects produced by the HP diet also occur after glucagon administration thus HP feeding probably influences gluconeogenesis by stimulating glucagon secretion.

Effect of egg yolk substances on the metabolism of the magnum in vitro.

Magnum slices from laying hens were incubated with buffer containing protein and lipid materials which passed through the vitelline membrane of yolks, obtained from ovary and from calcified eggs, to the surrounding buffer. Substances from ovarian yolk enhanced tissue respiration, protein secretion, alanine-glutamic transaminase activity, and inhibited incorporation of valine-14C into magnum proteins, 14C02 formation, and cystathionase activity. Substances from calcified egg yolk enhanced only protein secretion and inhibited tissue respiration, incorporation of radioactive valine into magnum proteins, and 14C02 formation. Aspartic-glutamic transaminase activity was not affected by experimental treatment. Individual values depend on the functional state of the oviduct. It was concluded that substances passing through the vitelline membrane of the yolk affect the metabolism and secretion of the magnum in vitro, suggesting that chemical stimuli may participate in the control of the functions of the oviduct in hen.

Diagnostic value of fermenturia in Botkin's disease

Among the various functional liver tests, the most important in the diagnosis of Botkin's disease is the determination of the activity of enzymes, especially aldolase, glutamic-alanine transaminase (ALT) and glutamine-aspartic transaminase (ACT). Numerous works by domestic and foreign authors have confirmed the indisputable importance of the determination of enzymemia in the diagnosis of the initial stages of Botkin's disease and its erased and anicteric forms.

CHANGES IN THE CARBOHYDRATES, PROTEINS AND NUCLEIC ACIDS IN THE OVULES OF &lt;italic&gt;ZEPHYRANTHES LANCASTERI&lt;/italic&gt; AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF MATURATION

The major changes in the levels of soluble and insoluble carbohydrates, nitrogenous compounds and nucleic acids were investigated at different stages of seed development in Zephyranthes lancasteri. The activities of amylases, glutamic-alanine transaminase, ribonuclease and deoxyribonuclease were also studied. The alcohol-soluble nitrogen and carbohydrates attain their maximal levels prior to the elongation ofthe cotyledon. Both of these decrease markedly during further maturation of the seed. The accumulation of total nitrogen in the ovule follows a sigmoid pattern. The glutamic-alanine transaminase activity appears to be exclusively localized in the endosperm and is absent from the embryo. The embryo seems to derive its organic nitrogen fromthe endosperm. The peak in the level of DNA per ovule is attainedprior to the elongation of the cotyledon while that of RNA is foundsoon after.