Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.6.1.2 (alanine aminotransferase)
26,722 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cytoprotective effects of the prostaglandins 16,16-dimethyl PGE2 (dmPGE2) and PGF2 alpha tromethamine (PGF2 alpha) were evaluated in the rat model of acute hepatocellular necrosis induced by thioacetamide (TAA). dmPGE2 (100 micrograms/kg SC 8 hourly) did not induce a significant increase in survival when started after the onset of TAA-induced fulminant hepatic failure. However, priming with dmPGE2 (100 micrograms/kg SC 30 min before TAA) reduced TAA-induced elevations in serum ALT (684 +/- 68 (SEM) vs 274 +/- 135 IU/1, p less than 0.01). This phenomenon did not occur if dmPGE2 was administered after TAA or by the IP route. Modulation of TAA-induced centrizonal hepatocellular necrosis by dmPGE2 was associated with a striking increase in centrizonal ballooning of hepatocytes (p less than 0.01), and, as assessed by stereology, less hepatocellular necrosis and degenerative changes. PGF2 alpha, which in contrast to dmPGE2 does not act via cAMP, had no effect on TAA-induced changes in serum ALT or hepatic histology. These findings suggest that dmPGE2 decreases hepatocellular necrosis by activating surface membrane adenylate cyclase and consequently stimulating cAMP. Ballooning of hepatocytes could occur secondary to these membrane events and appears to be a marker of dmPGE2-induced cytoprotection in this model.
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PMID:Modulation of thioacetamide-induced hepatocellular necrosis by prostaglandins is associated with novel histologic changes. 140 79

Serum Mn-superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) was determined in patients with various liver diseases including 31 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), 46 with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 17 with liver cirrhosis (LC), 23 with chronic hepatitis (CH) and 12 patients with obstructive jaundice with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using a specific monoclonal antibody. The serum level in patients with PBC (407 +/- 35 ng/ml, mean +/- SEM; n = 31) was significantly increased (p less than 0.01) compared with those of other liver diseases. Mn-SOD level did not correlate with total bilirubin level, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity, alkaline phosphatase activity, alanine aminotransferase activity, IgM, or with ceruloplasmin level in the sera of the patients. When the patients with PBC were histologically subdivided into four groups according to Scheuer's classification (Scheuer PJ. Primary biliary cirrhosis. In: Scheuer PJ, ed. Liver biopsy interpretation. 3rd ed. London: Bailliere Tindall, 1980:47-56), a high level of serum Mn-SOD was noticed in the early stage as well as in the advanced stage of the disease. Immunoblot analysis confirmed the reactivity and specificity of the monoclonal antibody to the enzyme protein in the patients' sera. Immunostaining of a liver biopsy specimen from the patients with PBC revealed increased expression of the enzyme protein in damaged epithelial cells of interlobular bile ducts, bile ductules, and degenerated hepatocytes. These data suggested that free radicals including superoxide anion are possibly involved in the pathogenesis of the disease and Mn-SOD may play some role in a protection against the superoxide anion.
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PMID:Elevated level of serum Mn-superoxide dismutase in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis: possible involvement of free radicals in the pathogenesis in primary biliary cirrhosis. 168 6

A freely mobile jacket and tether system was developed for the investigation of total parenteral nutrition (TPN)-induced metabolic bone disease and complications of prolonged TPN in 12 Macaca fascicularis nonhuman primates. The animals received TPN for 49 +/- 7 d (means +/- SEM), providing 82 +/- 2 kcal.kg-1.d-1. Serum glucose increased from 3.6 +/- 0.2 mmol/L at baseline to 8.3 +/- 1.9 mmol/L (p less than 0.01) during TPN, and serum albumin decreased from 38 +/- 1 g/L at baseline to 29 +/- 1 g/L (p less than 0.001) during 2.75% amino acid TPN and 30 +/- 2 g/L (p less than 0.01) during 5% amino acid TPN infusion. No significant changes were seen in serum prealbumin, total protein, bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, and 5'-nucleotidase during TPN infusion. Major complications included catheter sepsis, hyperglycemia, diarrhea, and premature death in six animals. Thus, metabolic complications of prolonged TPN support may be investigated in a freely mobile nonhuman primate.
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PMID:Long-term parenteral nutrition in unrestrained nonhuman primates: an experimental model. 210 76

The transport time of enzyme from heart to plasma was studied in two experimental models. First, the enzyme alanine aminotransferase was slowly infused into the left ventricular wall in open-chest dogs. The half-life for the washout of alanine aminotransferase activity into plasma was 20 +/- 4 minutes (mean +/- SEM, n = 8) and was not different in ischemic and normally perfused tissue. From measurements of arteriovenous differences in alanine aminotransferase activity and left ventricular blood flow, it was concluded that 77 +/- 14% of total enzyme washout from ischemic tissue occurred by direct entry into the bloodstream. The corresponding value for the vascular permeability-surface area product was 264 +/- 55 ml.kg-1.hr-1. For a second model, we studied myocardial enzyme release into plasma after abrupt heart injury induced by 10 minutes of calcium-free coronary perfusion followed by reintroduction of calcium (calcium-paradox mechanism). The half-life for the release into plasma was 1.9 +/- 0.2 hours (mean +/- SEM, n = 6) and was again not influenced by sustained ischemia. Slower washout, as observed for this second model, is consistent with increased interstitial protein space and corresponds to a permeability--surface area product between 135 and 285 ml.kg-1.hr-1. These results were used to calculate the time course of cellular enzyme leakage from the rate of enzyme release into plasma in various forms of heart injury. Significant shifts between the time curves of evolving cellular injury and enzyme release into plasma are observed after 2 hours of ischemia followed by coronary reperfusion, but not after permanent ischemia.
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PMID:Time course of cellular enzyme release in dog heart injury. 222 57

The feasibility of maintaining long-term viability of human venous allografts by cryopreservation has been investigated. Segments of vein were obtained from 85 patients undergoing a stripping operation for varicose veins. The venous segments were immersed in a dimethylsulfoxide 15% solution, deep frozen at -196 degrees C in liquid nitrogen and preserved for a duration of 1 week to 24 months. Light microscopy (n = 126) failed to demonstrate striking differences between control veins and any of the cryopreserved veins. The types of damage observed at scanning electron microscopy included endothelial cell separation, endothelial cell loss, exposed basement membrane and exposed fibrillar collagen, which were graded on a scale. The score for short term (less than 3 weeks) stored veins was 8.1 +/- 0.9 (mean +/- SEM) and did not differ from the long-term (greater than 10 weeks) stored veins score (6.3 +/- 1.0, p NS). The tissue enzymes LDH, GOT, GPT, CPK were measured in the frozen vein groups (n = 115) after thawing to room temperature. Cryopreservation did not alter any of the tissue enzymes measured when compared to controls. Endothelial fibrinolytic activity (FA) of 58 venous segments cryopreserved for a mean duration of 20 months was 6136.4 +/- 292.1 Tissue Activator Units (TAU) and did not differ from FA of 11 controls (5989.1 +/- 696.8 TAU). Synthesis of 6-Keto-PGF1-alpha-2, a stable breakdown product of PGI2, measured in 10 venous segments cryopreserved for 10 months, was significantly higher than in 13 veins stored in saline for 12 hours at 4 degrees C (2.8 +/- 0.4 vs 0.4 +/- 0.1 PG ml-1mg-1min-1, respectively; p less than 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Viability of long-term cryopreserved human saphenous veins. 232 91

Acute liver failure was induced in rats by a single intragastric dose of carbon tetrachloride. This causes hepatic centrilobular necrosis, as indicated by histological examinations, and produces a large increase in the activity of serum alanine aminotransferase. The plasma NH4+ level (mean +/- SEM) was 123 +/- 10 microM in the control group and 564 +/- 41 microM in animals with acute liver failure (each n = 5). 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used to monitor brain cortical high-energy phosphate compounds, Pi, and intracellular pH. 1H NMR spectroscopy was utilised to detect additional metabolites, including glutamate, glutamine, and lactate. The results show that the forebrain is capable of maintaining normal phosphorus energy metabolite ratios and intracellular pH despite the metabolic challenge by an elevated blood NH4+ level. There was a significant increase in the brain glutamine level and a concomitant decrease in the glutamate level during hyperammonaemia. The brain lactate level increased twofold in rats with acute liver failure. The results indicate that 1H NMR can be used to detect cerebral metabolic changes in this model of hyperammonaemia, and our observations are discussed in relation to compartmentation of NH4+ metabolism.
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PMID:Observation of cerebral metabolites in an animal model of acute liver failure in vivo: a 1H and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance study. 235 29

We compared the vitamin B-6 status of 12-wk-old rats (n = 12) fed excess (1400 mg/kg diet) or the recommended level (7 mg/kg diet, control) of pyridoxine (PN) hydrochloride to test if excess vitamin B-6 would cause tissue depletion of pyridoxal phosphate (PLP), the active coenzyme form of vitamin B-6. Plasma PLP, tryptophan-load test results, food intake, and tissue and body weights were not different at wk 6. Red blood cell endogenous alanine aminotransferase activity and PLP concentration were elevated (P less than 0.01) in rats fed 1400 mg PN.HCl/kg diet. In contrast, PLP concentration in muscle was significantly lower (P = 0.01) in rats fed excess vitamin B-6 (9.7 +/- 0.8 nmol/g, mean +/- SEM) than in controls (14.9 +/- 1.4). PLP concentration in other tissues, including plasma, was not affected. In rats fed excess vitamin B-6, pyridoxal was increased in all tissues examined (P less than 0.05), and total vitamin B-6 was increased in plasma, red blood cells and kidneys (P less than 0.05). Total glycogen phosphorylase (a + b) activity in the gastrocnemius was not affected, but phosphorylase a activity was increased in rats fed excess vitamin B-6 (P = 0.025). Concentrations of dopamine and metabolites in the caudate nucleus of the basal ganglia were not affected. A transient, but significant, elevation in acoustic startle response, a central nervous system reflex, was observed in rats fed excess vitamin B-6. The depletion in muscle PLP could not hae been predicted by either plasma or red blood cell PLP concentration, although the latter did reflect vitamin B-6 intake.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Evaluation of vitamin B-6 status and function of rats fed excess pyridoxine. 268 1

The effects of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA, 13-15 mg/kg body weight daily) were prospectively evaluated in fifteen patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). The mean concentration of UDCA in serum expressed as the percentage of total bile acids rose from 0% at baseline to 58% (SEM 9%) after 2 years' treatment, whereas total serum bile acid levels did not change significantly. The proportion of patients with pruritus necessitating the use of cholestyramine was significantly lower at 2 years than at baseline. Standard liver function tests improved in all the patients. At 2 years the average activities of gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase, alkaline phosphatases, and alanine aminotransferase and bilirubin levels were reduced (respectively 78%, 65%, 68%, and 36% of pretreatment values). In three patients who agreed to interrupt the ingestion of UDCA for 3 months after 2 years' treatment there was clear deterioration in liver function tests, which again improved after reinstitution of UDCA. These results suggest that long-term UDCA might be a safe and effective treatment for PBC, but a randomised, controlled, double-blind trial is urgently needed.
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PMID:Is ursodeoxycholic acid an effective treatment for primary biliary cirrhosis? 288 36

Cirrhosis of the liver is characterized by glucose intolerance and hyperinsulinaemia. It is considered an insulin resistant state with both a receptor and a post-receptor defect of insulin activity. It would appear that reduced hepatic degradation rather than increased B-cell production is responsible for hyperinsulinaemia. The effect of surgical portosystemic shunt on insulin resistance was studied in 18 cirrhotics with impaired glucose tolerance (12 males, 6 females; mean age 46.9 +/- 0.7 years) by measuring: glucose production (3H-glucose infusion), glucose utilisation (euglycaemic clamp at approximately 100, approximately 1000 and approximately 10,000 microU/1), plasma insulin and C-peptide levels, and liver function indices (serum bilirubin, albumin, ALT, GGT) before and 2 months after surgery. Liver sorbitol clearance was also employed to measure variations in the functional liver plasma flow induced by the shunt. No significant changes were noted in: glucose production (1.94 +/- 0.17 SEM vs 1.96 +/- 0.17 mg/kg/min), glucose utilisation (metabolic clearance rate: 3.32 +/- 0.48 vs 3.42 +/- 0.43 at approximately microU/ml; 9.70 +/- 1.0 vs 9.16 +/- 0.9 at approximately 1000 microU/ml; 10.92 +/- 1.1 vs 11.07 +/- 0.8 ml/kg/min at approximately 10 000 microU/ml), fasting plasma insulin, C-peptide and C-peptide/insulin molar ratio (4.66 +/- 0.47 vs 5.50 +/- 0.54), and the liver function indices. By contrast, there was a significant decrease in functional liver plasma flow (813 +/- 34 vs 604 +/- 34 ml/min, P less than 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Insulin resistance in human liver cirrhosis is not modified by porto-systemic surgical shunt. 352 84

Cell morphology, glutamic pyruvic (GTP) and glutamic oxalacetic transaminases (GOT) concentrations, and the ability to produce glucose or urea from different substrates (pyruvate, alanine, fructose, lactate and glutamine) were studied in isolated mouse and rat liver cells in the presence of Ca2+ and K+ chelating agents (0.1 M sodium perchlorate and 0.027 M sodium citrate with 1 mg/ml bovine albumin; ionic strength: 0.198, pH: 7.4). The chelating agent is perfused through the portal vein of an in situ liver, at low pressure (8 ml/min) at 20 C for 15 min. Cell dispersion is obtained by cutting liver lobes and "massaging" the tissue with a plastic spatula. Wash and cell concentration may be obtained by sedimentation or centrifugation in Krebs III, glucose 150 mg %, improved with 0.16 M pyruvate, 0.1 M fumarate and 0.16 M glutamate. This procedure furnished 53.06 +/- 3.33 X 10(6) cells, which was highly significant (p less than 0.001) with respect to saline controls: 6.11 +/- 1.91 X 10(6). After staining with Papanicolaou, hematoxylin-eosin, and PAS, the cellular material obtained was classified optically into: normal isolated parenchymal liver cells, hepatocyte clumps, "burst" cells, normal blood or reticuloendothelial cells, cellular debris and non-cellular material. Cell morphology showed that a constant perfusion (8 ml/min) with a minimal mechanical treatment, 82.5% of the liver cells appears normal. Biochemical study showed that transaminases are indeed lost, but this loss is below the amount capable of effecting metabolic blockade (3/4 of transaminases remain in liver cells; GOT in cells: 692 +/- 218; GPT in cells. 264 +/- 94; GOT in supernatant: 152 +/- 29; GPT in supernatant: 79 +/- 12 mUI/10(6) cells, after recovering 60 min at 37 C) (means +/- SEM). Conversion of substrates (sodium pyruvate 10 mM, 20 mM D-L alanine, 10 mM fructose and 20 mM D-L sodium lactate) into glucose was statistically significant with respect to the baseline when the liver cells were isolated and recovered (rat liver cells, basal: 25.37 +/- 3.73; pyruvate: 54.04 +/- 7.98; DL-alanine: 62 +/- 10.07; fructose: 264.67 +/- 20.51; DL-lactate: 78.05 +/- 17.99 mmoles/10(6) cels, means +/- SEM). Urea production from 5 mM DL-glutamine was statistically highly significant to the basal with rat liver cell isolated and recovered (basal: 160.60 +/- 3.76; DL-glutamine: 608.47 +/- 16.15 mmoles/10(6) cells; means +/- SEM). The results obtained suggest that liver cells isolated with Ca2+ and K+ chelating agents used as described above are of value for biochemical studies.
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PMID:Isolation of liver cells with Ca2+ and K+ chelating agents. Biochemistry and cell morphology. 718 90


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