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)

Fibrogenic effects of amorphous quartz dusts are discussed more and more during recent years. In order to study alterations due to amorphous silica (quartz glass VP 203-006) in comparison with crystalline quartz (DQ-12), an inhalation experiment in rats was carried out. Male Wistar rats were separated in two dust exposed groups (n = 35) and one control group (n = 30). The experiment was carried out in inhalation chambers with a slowly rotating animal cage for 12 months, 7 h per day, and 5 days per week. The dust concentration was 10 mg/m3. After 4 and after 8 months of inhalation, 5 animals of each group were sacrificed. After 12 months 15 rats of the dust exposed groups and 10 controls were euthanized. The remaining animals were kept for another 12 months post-inhalation period. Regarding the macroscopical appearance of the lungs, the relative organ weights and the histomorphological reaction pattern, marked dust depending differences are obvious. In the lungs of DQ-12-exposed animals diffuse structural changes occur, including fibrosis and severe reaction of macrophages. Histology of lungs from quartz glass exposed animals reveals only a slight and focally arranged cellular reaction with a few collagenous fibers. However, in both dust exposed groups the mediastinal lymph nodes are extremely enlarged with severe fibroses. Additionally, the following blood parameters were determined: lysozyme, ACE, GOT, GPT, and AP. The most pronounced changes are detectable in lysozyme and GOT after DQ-12 exposure. After quartz glass exposure, the levels of these parameters are similar to the controls. These results show that the amorphous quartz tested in this experiment (quartz-glass VP 203-006) has to be considered as a compound with certain biological effects. The establishing of occupational standards seems to be justified. But, assessing the effects, the different physical and/or chemical properties of various amorphous quartz dusts have to be considered.
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PMID:[Comparative studies of the effect of quartz glass and quartz DQ-12 in inhalation tests in rats]. 216 66

Previous studies have shown that "xenobiotic" compounds such as the environmental pollutant alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane (alpha-HCH) and the synthetic sex steroid cyproterone acetate (CPA) induce growth of rat liver by hypertrophy and hyperplasia. After withdrawal of the growth stimuli, liver hypertrophy was usually found to be readily reversible. Conflicting observations were made concerning the fate of liver hyperplasia: hepatic hyperplasia persisted when induced by alpha-HCH but was found to be partially reversible when induced by CPA. The present study confirms the reversibility of hepatic hyperplasia induced by CPA in rats: about 30% of liver DNA present at maximal liver enlargement disappeared within 6 days after cessation of CPA treatment. Simultaneously, a dramatic increase in the rate of cell elimination by apoptosis was found. Glutamate-pyruvate transaminase and alkaline phosphatase in serum did not show major increases, suggesting that cell death was not due to lytic membrane damage. Furthermore, if treatment with CPA was continued or resumed, the enhanced DNA content persisted and the number of apoptotic bodies was greatly reduced. These observations suggest that the occurrence of cell death is due to withdrawal of the growth stimulus CPA. It may reflect a regulatory phenomenon serving to maintain homeostasis of cell number. Further studies showed that CPA is rapidly eliminated from rat liver and serum: t 1/2 in the liver is about 11 h. In contrast, alpha-HCH was previously found to be eliminated more slowly: t 1/2 approximately 144 h. The present study revealed that alpha-HCH, CPA and nafenopin lower the number of apoptotic bodies. This suggests that inducers of liver growth can inhibit hepatocellular death by apoptosis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Growth, regression and cell death in rat liver as related to tissue levels of the hepatomitogen cyproterone acetate. 243 63

At the Center for Experimental Plants and Animals, Hokkaido University, two inbred strains, Long Evans Cinnamon (LEC) and Long Evans Agouti (LEA), which were selected for coat colour, were isolated from a closed colony of Long Evans rats. While the two inbred strains were maintained by sibmating, only LEC rats, over 24-generation, spontaneously developed acute hepatitis with sudden appearance of systemic jaundice at around four months after birth. The frequency of acute hepatitis was 80 to 90% and the disease in nearly 80% of these rats were progressive and they died within two weeks after onset, with their clinical course and histopathological findings similar to those of human fulminant hepatitis. LEC rats with spontaneous hepatitis had strong-conversion of urine-bilirubin, ultimate increase of blood-bilirubin and abnormal increase of serum-transaminases (GOT, GPT; GOT greater than GPT). Histopathological findings of the livers in the rats with acute hepatitis showed spotty necrosis and abnormal hepatocytes containing giant bizarre nuclei and in the rats with fulminant-type hepatitis showed central or coagulated necrosis and marked infiltration of inflammatory cells. Serum levels of albumin in LEC rats before being affected by hepatitis were low compared with those of LEA rats and especially characteristic fact was that cellulose-acetate electrophoresis could not reveal gamma-globulin fraction in LEC rats of 6-week and 12-week old, which will be a clue to analyze the etiology of hepatitis in LEC rats.
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PMID:[Establishment of an inbred strain of LEC (Long Evans Cinnamon) rats with spontaneous hepatitis]. 247 50

Previous studies in young normal rats have shown that intracerebral administration of the proteinase inhibitor, leupeptin, caused a rapid accumulation of lipofuscin-like pigment in lysosomes of brain cells (Ivy et al., 1984a). On the other hand, we have recently found that the administration of lovastatin, an inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase, reduced the ceroid-like pigment and dolichol contents in the crushed epididymal fat pad of rats (Porta et al., 1988). In order to study now the possible modulating effects of these enzyme inhibitors on ceroidogenesis associated with vitamin E deficiency, two main groups of weanling Wistar female rats were respectively fed ad libitum a vitamin E-deficient basal diet, or the same diet supplemented with 16 mg% of dl-alpha-tocopherol acetate. The vitamin E-deficient and -supplemented rats were further subdivided and received for 8 weeks their diets alone or with 2, 1, or 0.5 g of lovastatin/kg of diet. Other subgroups were treated with constant peritoneal infusion of 0.5 mg/day of leupeptin by means of osmotic minipumps (Alzet 2002) consecutively implanted at days 15, 30, and 45. Lovastatin treatment to vitamin E-deficient rats was associated with dose-dependent toxicity, resulting in 100%, 75%, and 50% mortality at concentrations of 2, 1, and 0.5 g/kg diet, respectively. This mortality was mainly due to extensive hepatic necrosis. Food intake and growth rates were reduced, while the relative weights of liver, kidneys, spleen, heart and brain, as well as the serum levels of GPT and GOT were significantly increased over the values of the untreated vitamin E-deficient control rats. The volumetric densities of ceroid pigment and the dolichol contents in liver and kidneys were not significantly modified. Lovastatin toxicity was partially prevented by vitamin E supplementation. However, in these supplemented rats, lovastatin treatment did not modify the volumetric densities of hepatic and renal ceroid, although the contents of hepatic and renal dolichol were significantly increased. No correlations could be found between levels of hepatic or renal ceroid and total dolichol content in vitamin E-deficient and supplemented rats. Leupeptin treatment to vitamin E-deficient rats only slightly reduced food intake and growth rates, and did not significantly modify the relative organ weights or the serum levels of cholesterol, GOT and GPT. Although in both vitamin E-deficient and -supplemented rats the leupeptin treatment consistently showed a tendency to increase the volumetric densities of hepatic and renal ceroid pigment, the differences with the control untreated rats were not statistically significant.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Effects of lovastatin and leupeptin on ceroidogenesis of vitamin E-deficient and -supplemented young rats. 248 49

In an attempt to elucidate the role of hepatic macrophages in liver injury, we investigated galactosamine-treated rats (500 mg per kg body weight). The rats received an i.v. injection of latex particles (2 x 10(9) particles per animal) prior to (latex-galactosamine) or 12 to 16 hr subsequent to the galactosamine treatment (galactosamine-latex). Effect of superoxide dismutase on hepatic injury induced by galactosamine or galactosamine-latex treatment was also examined. Oxygen-derived free radical-generating capacity of isolated hepatic macrophages was measured as chemiluminescence with the stimulation of phorbol myristate acetate or latex particles. As compared with normal rats, chemiluminescence of hepatic macrophages from galactosamine-treated rats was 5- to 10-fold enhanced 12 hr following galactosamine treatment and remained elevated for 48 hr. Chemiluminescence of the latex particle-pretreated macrophages in the liver was markedly suppressed even following the galactosamine treatment (p less than 0.01). Compared to galactosamine-treated rats, both lipid peroxide level in the liver tissue and AST and ALT concentration in serum were significantly decreased in the latex-galactosamine-treated rats (p less than 0.01) and increased in the galactosamine-latex-treated rats (p less than 0.01). Furthermore, superoxide dismutase supplementation protected against liver injury induced by the galactosamine-latex treatment. From these results, pretreatment with latex particles suppressed the free radical-generating capacity of hepatic macrophages and protected against hepatic injury induced by galactosamine. In contrast, injection of latex particles after galactosamine treatment aggravated hepatic injury, which was prevented by superoxide dismutase. These data suggest that liver injury induced by galactosamine is modulated by oxygen-derived free radicals from hepatic macrophages.
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PMID:Modulation of hepatotoxicity by macrophages in the liver. 283 5

Human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), when exposed to soluble or particulate stimuli, can destroy various types of cells. The purpose of the present work was to investigate the toxicity of phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)-stimulated PMN against hepatocytes. Neutrophils were incubated in basal conditions or after stimulation by 100 ng/ml PMA in the presence of rat hepatocytes isolated by collagenase digestion. Cytotoxicity was quantified by the percentage of alanine aminotransferase (ALAT) activity released by hepatocytes in the culture medium. Whereas unstimulated PMN had only minor effects, PMA-stimulated PMN induced, after a 16-hour incubation, a 29.5% ALAT activity release at a PMN/hepatocyte ratio of 20/1. At the same ratio, stimulated PMN induced a 1.5% and a 16.6% ALAT activity release at 1 and 4 hours, respectively. At 1 hour, electron microscopy showed intimate contacts between PMN and hepatocytes; hepatocytes appeared morphologically normal. Hepatocytic lesions were moderate at 4 hours and marked at 16 hours. Neutrophil-induced hepatocyte toxicity could not be explained by the production of reactive oxygen intermediates since: (a) hepatocyte toxicity was not prevented by either superoxide dismutase or by catalase; (b) PMN obtained from a subject with chronic granulomatous disease were as toxic as PMN obtained from a normal subject. By contrast, a proteinase-mediated mechanism could be implicated since: (a) the supernatant of stimulated PMN induced a 45.9% ALAT activity release, after 16 hours of incubation; (b) three neutral proteinase inhibitors (i.e., alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor, phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride, soybean trypsin inhibitor) as well as fetal calf serum decreased this toxic effect by 82, 86, 81 and 70%, respectively. These inhibitors had no or minor protective effect on the toxicity of stimulated PMN coincubated with hepatocytes. This could be explained by the existence of intimate contacts between PMN and hepatocytes impeding the action of antiproteinases. Our results suggest that PMA-stimulated PMN can damage hepatocytes through the release of proteinases and that the existence of close contacts between PMN and hepatocytes might play a major role in this toxic effect.
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PMID:Toxicity of phorbol myristate acetate-stimulated polymorphonuclear neutrophils against rat hepatocytes. Demonstration and mechanism. 284 80

Primidone, phenytoin, or phenytoin and primidone in combination were given to healthy Beagle dogs for 6 months. Serum biochemical changes in dogs given primidone alone or phenytoin and primidone in combination for the entire 6-month test period included increased activities of alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase (AP), and gamma-glutamyltransferase, and decreased concentrations of albumin and cholesterol. Changes in dogs given phenytoin alone were limited to increased AP activity and decreased albumin concentration. Sulfobromophthalein excretion and conjugated bile acid concentration were within normal limits. All dogs given primidone alone or phenytoin alone remained clinically healthy throughout the treatment period. Three of 8 dogs given both drugs in combination became clinically ill after 9, 14, and 15 weeks of treatment, and were euthanatized. Two of the dogs developed clinical jaundice. In addition to the serum biochemical abnormalities observed in clinically healthy dogs, these dogs developed hyperbilirubinemia, delayed sulfobromophthalein excretion, and increased conjugated bile acid concentrations. Histologic examination of the liver showed intracanalicular casts of bile pigment typical of intrahepatic cholestasis in all 3 dogs. Histologic findings characteristic of treated dogs included hepatocellular hypertrophy attributable to hyperplasia of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Single-cell necrosis and multifocal lipidosis were observed in individuals of all treatment groups. Electron microscopy of the liver showed dilated bile canaliculi and damaged sinusoidal epithelium in dogs given both drugs. The elevated serum AP activity, associated with anticonvulsant drug therapy, was found to be exclusively the liver isoenzyme by cellulose acetate electrophoresis. The hepatic AP was localized to primarily the canalicular membranes by enzyme histochemistry. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between the AP activities of liver and serum. The results of this study indicate that long-term administration of anticonvulsant drugs to dogs is associated with clinical, serum biochemical, and histologic evidence of hepatic dysfunction. High drug dosage contributed most to abnormal serum biochemical test results, and combining phenytoin with primidone was responsible for more severe electron microscopic lesions of the liver of surviving dogs and for the death of 3 dogs.
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PMID:Effects of long-term primidone and phenytoin administration on canine hepatic function and morphology. 285 43

Activity of enzymes participating in metabolism of glutamate and content of nicotinamide nucleotides was studied in rat liver tissue within 24 hrs after intramuscular administration of alpha-tocopheryl acetate at doses of 30 mg and 300 mg per kg of body mass. Excess of the vitamin was responsible for a decrease in the ratio NAD+/NADH in cytosol, for stimulation of glutamate dehydrogenase reaction, for a decrease of aspartate aminotransferase activity in mitochondria and of alanine aminotransferase activity in cytosol as well as for an increase of NADPH content.
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PMID:[Effect of alpha-tocopherol on glutamic acid metabolism and nicotinamide coenzyme levels in hepatocytes]. 287 84

Affinity electrophoresis, using wheat germ lectin, was used to separate the alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes in the sera of 150 dogs with alkaline phosphatase values greater than or equal to 150 IU/L. The method provided clearer separation of the liver, bone and steroid-induced alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes commonly observed in canine serum, compared to conventional cellulose acetate electrophoresis. The dogs were divided into four patient groups determined by previous corticosteroid treatment, evidence of elevated endogenous corticosteroid levels, age and alanine aminotransferase values. The isoenzyme pattern of each patient was qualitatively assessed. The isoenzyme pattern most frequently observed was greater than 50% steroid induced alkaline phosphatase, which was present in 76 of 150 dogs. This pattern was observed in 18 of 22 dogs receiving corticosteroid therapy, two of three dogs with hyperadrenocorticism, and in dogs with a variety of other diagnoses. The majority of immature dogs (12 of 20) had an isoenzyme pattern consisting of greater than 50% bone. The majority of dogs with active hepatocellular injury (16 of 27) had greater than 50% liver isoenzyme. The isoenzyme pattern was not specific for certain diseases, therefore the diagnostic usefulness is limited. However the isoenzyme result is useful in some cases to determine which further diagnostic tests are indicated, and to determine the source of alkaline phosphatase elevation.
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PMID:Diagnostic value of alkaline phosphatase isoenzyme separation by affinity electrophoresis in the dog. 334 87

727 consecutive drunken drivers were studied for laboratory markers of excessive alcohol consumption. Serum gamma-glutamyltransferase and alanine aminotransferase showed no differences and aspartate aminotransferase and blood alcohol concentration only small differences between groups of first and repeating drunk driving offenders. The best laboratory test to differentiate the repeating offenders with probably more serious alcohol problems from the first offenders was in our material serum acetate, the mean serum acetate level of the repeating offenders being highly significantly (P less than 0.001) higher than that of the first offenders or nonalcoholic controls. Serum acetate also differentiated first offenders from nonalcoholic controls (P less than 0.001). Our results suggest that serum acetate could be used for the screening of problem drinking among drunken drivers.
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PMID:Increased serum acetate as a marker of problem drinking among drunken drivers. 339 Feb 36


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