0000000000716827
AUTHOR
G.h. Rathgen
The influence of oral contraceptives on the composition of bile.
The increased risk of cholelithiasis during intake of oral contraceptives may be due to estrogen-induced saturation of the bile with cholesterol. In a randomized, prospective, crossed-over double-blind study 20 healthy women after roentgenological exclusion of gall-stones received either 1.0 mg of norethindrone acetate and 50 microgram ethinyl estradiol daily - as usual in oral contraception - for 21 days with 7 days of placebo treatment in each cycle or one fifth of this hormone dose in form of a continuous daily medication. After a 4 month's treatment the medication form was crossed-over. At the beginning of the study, before the cross-over and after the study bile was collected by duoden…
Investigations of gestation-induced metabolic changes in the rat liver. I. Glycogen metabolism.
The activities of alpha-glucan-phosphorylase and phosphoglucomutase and the concentration of glycogen were measured in the liver of pregnant and non-pregnant rats. There were no significant differences between normal non-pregnant and pregnant animals nor was there any change of enzyme activities during pregnancy. Our results lend support to the idea that glycogen metabolism is not changed during normal pregnancy.
Metabolic changes in the rat liver during pregnancy
During pregnancy the rat liver shows alterations in metabolism which apparently do not to occur in the non-pregnant animal. In our study, the following metabolite concentrations and enzyme activities in the liver of pregnant and non-pregnant rats were measured after fasting periods of 6 and 12 h: malate, fumarate, isocitrate, alpha-keto-glutarate, glutamate, malate-dehydrogenase, fumarate-hydratase, glutamate-dehydrogenase, isocitrate-dehydrogenase, aspartate-aminotransferase and after 12 h fast, the concentrations of acetyl coenzyme A and citrate. These results are discussed with regard to their possible importance for the maternal and fetal energy supply.