Search results for "Urea cycle"
showing 7 items of 17 documents
Dietary Arginine Slightly and Variably Affects Tissue Polyamine Levels in Male Swiss Albino Mice
2002
Many key metabolic and physiologic functions involve arginine and arginine-derived metabolites. Requirements for arginine, a "conditionally essential" amino acid for most mammalian species, are met in variable proportions by dietary intake and endogenous synthesis, the latter being sufficient to fulfill arginine needs in adult humans and mice under nonpathologic conditions. However, dietary arginine restriction causes orotic aciduria and abnormal function of the urea cycle. Furthermore, the importance of dietary arginine in the maintenance of homeostasis of arginine-derived metabolites in the body has not yet been analyzed in detail. We therefore examined whether the deprivation or suppleme…
Paraoxonase-1 deficiency is associated with severe liver steatosis in mice fed a high-fat high-cholesterol diet: a metabolomic approach.
2013
Oxidative stress is a determinant of liver steatosis and the progression to more severe forms of disease. The present study investigated the effect of paraoxonase-1 (PON1) deficiency on histological alterations and hepatic metabolism in mice fed a high-fat high-cholesterol diet. We performed nontargeted metabolomics on liver tissues from 8 male PON1-deficient mice and 8 wild-type animals fed a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet for 22 weeks. We also measured 8-oxo-20-deoxyguanosine, reduced and oxidized glutathione, malondialdehyde, 8-isoprostanes and protein carbonyl concentrations. Results indicated lipid droplets in 14.5% of the hepatocytes of wild-type mice and in 83.3% of the PON1-deficie…
Regulation of argininosuccinate synthetase level by corticosteroid and pancreatic hormones during perinatal period.
1995
The urea cycle takes place in the hepatocyte of ureothelic animals. The conversion of ammonia into urea involves five reactions. The first 2 take place in the matrix of the mitochondria, the last 2 occur in the cytosol. Argininosuccinate synthetase (AS) is the third reaction of the urea cycle. It catalyses the condensation of citrulline and aspartate into arginonosuccinate. We have previously reported that rat AS activity was present in the cytosol and the outer membrane of the mitochondria. We have shown that, at the activity level, the colocation of AS was changing during fetal and neonatal development and was under the control of corticosteroid and pancreatic hormones. However, an unreso…
Liver intracellular L-cysteine concentration is maintained after inhibition of the trans-sulfuration pathway by propargylglycine in rats.
1997
To study the fate ofl-cysteine and amino acid homeostasis in liver after the inhibition of the trans-sulfuration pathway, rats were treated with propargylglycine (PPG). At 4 h after the administration of PPG, liver cystathionase (EC4.4.1.1) activity was undetectable,l-cystathionine levels were significantly higher,l-cysteine was unchanged and GSH concentration was significantly lower than values found in livers from control rats injected intraperitoneally with 0.15 M-NaCl. The hepatic levels of amino acids that are intermediates of the urea cycle,l-ornithine,l-citrulline andl-arginine and blood urea were significantly greater. Urea excretion was also higher in PPG-treated rats when compared…
Molecular analysis of a human liver mitochondrial ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency.
1990
The liver of a young girl which had been successfully transplanted was investigated at the ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC, EC 2.1.3.3) gene expression level. Northern blot hybridization using a human OTC cDNA probe showed a greater than 80% decrease in specific OTC mRNA although having the same molecular size as a normal control. OTC polypeptide was simultaneously synthesized with a normal molecular size but at a low level (20%) as shown by immunoblotting. The OTC enzyme from the deficient liver exhibited very little catalytic activity (7.2% as compared to the normal subject). These results may support several explanations of this disease such as mutation of the OTC gene promoter leading t…
Regulation of the Urea Cycle during Lactation
1990
We have recently shown that the uptake of amino acids by rat lactating mammary gland is 15 mmoles/day (1). This effect is achieved by an increase in food intake during lactation and probably by changes in amino acid metabolism in other tissues. Rat liver removes 75% of the total amino acids derived from a protein meal (2); therefore plays a key role in the regulation of plasma amino acid concentration.
Aestivation Motifs Explain Hypertension and Muscle Catabolism in Experimental Chronic Renal Failure
2020
Chronic renal failure leads to muscle mass loss and hypertension, which according to textbook teaching occur secondary to an inability of the kidneys to excrete solutes and water. We found instead that rats with experimental chronic renal failure constantly lost body water, because their kidneys could not sufficiently concentrate the urine. Physiological adaptation to body water loss, termed aestivation, is an evolutionary conserved survival strategy that relies on complex physiologic-metabolic adjustment across multiple organs to prevent otherwise lethal dehydration. We show that rats with chronic renal failure utilize these ancient water conservation motifs to successfully stabilize their…