Aminotransferase activity in chicken blood plasma after application of a lethal activity of 32P

An attempt was made to evaluate whether in chicken the activity of plasma aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase changes after 32P administration, and whether it helps in the diagnosis of morphological or functional liver damage caused by ionizing radiation before the appearance of clinical simptoms of radiation sickness. Fifty day old hybrid chickens of heavy Jata provenience of both sexes were treated by 32P administred i.m. as disodium hydrogen phosphate in a single dose of 333 MBq per kilogram of body weight. Blood samples were taken from the wing vein on days 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 after administration of 32P. The activities of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were determined spectrophotometrically using optimized kits produced by Boehringer Mannheim GmbH. The obtained results have shown that aspartate aminotransferase activity increased on the 3rd and 5th day and it decreased on the 7th and 10th day of the experiment. A statistically significant difference was recorded on the 3rd day of the experiment. Alanine aminotransferase activity increased during the first five days of the experiment, and on the 7th day it decreased. On the 10th day of the experimet the activity of alanine aminotransferase in the blood plasma of 32P treated birds was not detectable; a statistically significant difference was recorded on the 5th day only. The obtained results indicate that the activity of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase may serve as an indicator of functional and/or morphological liver damage in chickens caused by ionizing radiation before the appearance of clinical symptoms of radiation sickness