Open AccessSex Difference in the Development of Fatty Liver by Orotic Acid
Author(s) -
Isao Negishi,
Yoshifusa Aizawa
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
japanese journal of pharmacology/japanese journal of pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1347-3506
pISSN - 0021-5198
DOI - 10.1254/jjp.25.289
Subject(s) - orotic acid , phosphatidylcholine , methionine , medicine , endocrinology , fatty acid , fatty liver , biology , biochemistry , chemistry , phospholipid , amino acid , disease , membrane
Effects of orotic acid on liver lipid accumulation and incorporation of methionine [methyl-14C] into liver phosphatidylcholine and protein, and into serum beta-lipoprotein were studied. Male and female rats of Wistar strain were fed a semisynthetic diet supplemented with 1 per cent orotic acid for 7 days. Feeding of orotic acid induced a marked fatty liver in female rats, but not in males. In female rats, radioactivity in liver phosphatidylcholine was significantly decreased by orotic acid, and that in liver protein was slightly decreased. In male rats, incorporation of methionine [methyl-14C] into liver phosphatidylcholine and protein was unchanged between the control and the rats fed orotic acid. Radioactivity in serum beta-lipoprotein was decreased to a greater extent in female rats than in males. These results suggest that sex difference in the development of fatty liver may be due to the difference in the effect of orotic acid on liver phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis.