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Urea‐Cycle Enzymes in Normal Liver and in Patients with Alcoholic Hepatitis
Author(s) -
Maier K.P.,
Volk B.,
HoppeSeyler G.,
Gerok W.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
european journal of clinical investigation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.164
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1365-2362
pISSN - 0014-2972
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2362.1974.tb02333.x
Subject(s) - arginase , alcoholic hepatitis , transaminase , liver biopsy , medicine , hepatitis , urea cycle , alcoholic liver disease , aspartate transaminase , urea , ornithine , gastroenterology , cirrhosis , enzyme , alanine transaminase , biopsy , biology , endocrinology , biochemistry , alkaline phosphatase , arginine , amino acid
. Urea‐cycle enzymes and ornithine‐ketoacid‐transaminase have been measured in biopsy specimens of liver from healthy subjects and from patients suffering from alcoholic hepatitis. Both groups of subjects received a hospital diet of about 100 g of protein daily. Extraction of enzymes from biopsy specimens was performed by a standardized technique.—The DNA content of liver did not vary significantly between the groups, whereas protein content was significantly lower in patients with alcoholics hepatitis than in controls ( p < 0.05). Of the enzymes tested, the activities of carbamyl‐phosphate synthetase and arginase were significantly decreased ( p < 0.05 and p < 0.005 respectively) in patients with alcoholic hepatitis. Activities of arginosuccinate lyase, ornithine‐ketoacid‐transaminase and ornithine‐carbamylphosphate transaminase remained unchanged in both groups.—These results demonstrate that alterations in arginase and carbamylphosphate synthetase‐activities in the liver of patients with alcoholic hepatitis precede the histological manifestation of liver cirrhosis, which is associated with a significant decrease in some urea cycle enzymes [3, 15, 16]. Therefore the determination of arginase and carbamylphosphate synthetase in needle‐biopsies of human liver represent sensitive parameters of liver cell necrosis during the course of alcoholic hepatitis.