Lactate-stimulated ethanol oxidation in isolated hepatocytes

1. Hepatocytes isolated from starved rats and incubated without other substrates oxidized ethanol at a rate of 0.8-0.9mumol/min per g wet wt. of cells. Addition of 10mm-lactate increased this rate 2-fold. 2. Quinolinate (5mm) or tryptophan (1mm) decreased the rate of gluconeogenesis with 10mm-lactate and 8mm-ethanol from 0.39 to 0.04-0.08mumol/min per g wet wt. of cells, but rates of ethanol oxidation were not decreased. From these results it appears that acceleration of ethanol oxidation by lactate is not dependent upon the stimulation of gluconeogenesis and the consequent increased demand for ATP. 3. As another test of the relationship between ethanol oxidation and gluconeogenesis, the initial lactate concentration was varied from 0.5mm to 10mm and pyruvate was added to give an initial [lactate]/[pyruvate] ratio of 10. This substrate combination gave a large stimulation of ethanol oxidation (from 0.8 to 2.6mumol/min per g wet wt. of cells) at low lactate concentrations (0.5-2.0mm), but rates remained nearly constant (2.6-3.0mumol/min per g wet wt. of cells) at higher lactate concentrations (2.0-10mm). 4. In contrast, owing to the presence of ethanol, the rate of glucose synthesis was only slightly increased (from 0.08 to 0.12mumol/min per g wet wt. of cells) between 0.5mm- and 2.0mm-lactate and continued to increase (from 0.12 to 0.65mumol/min per g wet wt. of cells) with lactate concentrations between 2 and 10mm. 5. In the presence of ethanol, O(2) uptake increased with increasing substrate concentration over the entire range. 6. Changes in concentrations of glutamate and 2-oxoglutarate closely paralleled changes in the rate of ethanol oxidation. 7. In isolated hepatocytes, rates of ethanol oxidation are lower than those in vivo apparently because of depletion of malate-aspartate shuttle intermediates during cell preparation. Rates are returned to those observed in vivo by substrates that increase the intracellular concentration of shuttle metabolites.     

Nucleotide sequences of genes encoding the type II chloramphenicol acetyltransferases of Escherichia coli and Haemophilus influenzae, which are sensitive to inhibition by thiol-reactive reagents.

A gastric [U-14C]glucose load (4.8 mg/g body wt.) was delivered to unrestrained post-absorptive or 30 h-starved rats bearing peripheral and portal vein catheters and continuously perfused with [3-3H]glucose, in order to compare their metabolic and hormonal responses. In the basal state, portal and peripheral glycaemia were less in starved rats than in rats in the post-absorptive period (P less than 0.01), whereas blood lactate was similar. Portal insulinaemia (P less than 0.05) and protal glucagonaemia (P less than 0.005) were lower in starved rats, but insulin/glucagon ratio was higher in post-absorptive rats (P less than 0.005). The glucose turnover rate was decreased by starvation (P less than 0.005). After glucose ingestion, blood glucose was similar in post-absorptive and starved rats. A large portoperipheral gradient of lactate appeared in starved rats. Portal insulinaemia reached a peak at 9 min, and was respectively 454 +/- 68 and 740 +/- 65 mu-units/ml in starved and post-absorptive rats. Portal glucagonaemia remained stable, but was higher in post-absorptive rats (P less than 0.05). At 60 min after the gastric glucose load, 30% of the glucose was delivered at the periphery in both groups. The total glucose appearance rate was higher in starved rats (P less than 0.05), as was the glucose utilization rate (P less than 0.05), whereas the rate of appearance of exogenous glucose was similar. This was due to a non-suppressed hepatic glucose production in the starved rats, whereas it was totally suppressed in post-absorptive rats. At 1 h after the glucose load, the increase in both liver and muscle glycogen concentration was greater in starved rats. Thus short-term fasting induces an increased portal lactate concentration after a glucose load, and produces a state of liver insulin unresponsiveness for glucose production, whereas the sensitivity of peripheral tissues for glucose utilization is unchanged or even increased. This might allow preferential replenishment of the peripheral stores of glycogen.     

The interaction of glycolysis, gluconeogenesis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle in rat liver in vivo

1. The equations derived by Heath (1968) were applied to data from experiments on rats in four metabolic states: fed, post-absorptive, starved and 2hr. after an eventually lethal injury. The data used were: (a) The fractions of label injected as C1-, C2- and C3-pyruvate (where the prefix indicates the position of labelling) that are incorporated into carbon dioxide and glucose in post-absorptive and injured rats (yields). Yields could be corrected to yields on label taken up by the liver. (b) The (C5-label in glutamate)/(total label in glutamate) ratio in the liver after C2-pyruvate in rats in all four states. (c) The distribution of label within glutamate after C2-pyruvate or C2-alanine in the livers of fed, post-absorptive and starved rats. (d) The distribution of label within glucose after C2-lactate or C2-pyruvate in starved rats. (e) The relative specific radioactivities of pyruvate, aspartate, glutamate and (in two states only) of glucose 6-phosphate after injection of [U-(14)C]glucose into rats in all four states. These data were previously published, except those after (e) and some after (b) above, which are given in this paper. 2. In addition the concentrations of pyruvate, citrate, glutamate and aspartate in the livers of post-absorptive and injured rats were found. Injury decreased glutamate and citrate concentrations and to a smaller extent aspartate and pyruvate concentrations. 3. Non-steady-state theory showed that most of the data could be used without serious error in steady-state theory. Steady-state theory correlated all but one observation (the relative yields of (14)CO(2) from C2- and C3-pyruvate) listed after (a)-(e) above within the experimental errors, and gave rough estimates of the rates of pyruvate carboxylation, conversion of pyruvate and fat into acetyl-CoA and utilization of glutamate. The main conclusions were: (a) symmetrization of label in oxaloacetate both in the mitochondrion and in the cytoplasm was far from complete, because oxaloacetate did not equilibrate with fumarate in either. From this and other findings it was deduced: (b) that malate or fumarate or both left the mitochondrion, and not oxaloacetate; (c) that there was a loss from the mitochondrion of a fraction of the malate or fumarate or both formed from succinate, and (d) the resulting deficiency of oxaloacetate for the perpetuation of the tricarboxylic acid cycle was made up from pyruvate in fed and post-absorptive rats, but (e) in the starved rat could only be made up by utilization of glutamate. (f) In the fed rat the tricarboxylic acid cycle ran mostly on pyruvate, but in the post-absorptive and starved rat mostly on fat. (g) In the injured rat the tricarboxylic acid cycle was slowed, label in oxaloacetate was completely symmetrized (cf. conclusion a), and the tricarboxylic acid cycle utilized glutamate. (h) The conclusions were not invalidated by isotopic exchange, i.e. flux of label without net flux of compound, nor by interaction with lipogenic processes. (i) In the kidneys interaction between the tricarboxylic acid cycle and gluconeogenesis was different from in the liver, and was much less. The effects on the theory were roughly assessed, and were small. 4. The experiments and optimum experimental conditions required to check the theory are listed, and several predictions, open to experimental confirmation, are made.     

Glutamine-synthesizing activity in lungs of fed, starved, acidotic, diabetic, injured and septic rats.

The maximal catalytic activity of glutamine synthetase was measured in lung homogenates of the rat (being 5.46 +/- 0.29 mumol/min per g wet wt. or 31.70 +/- 2.62 nmol/min per mg of protein at 37 degrees C, in fed animals). The activity is similar to that of liver, but 16-fold higher than that in quadriceps muscles. Chronic (NH4Cl-induced) or acute (HCl-induced) metabolic acidosis had no effects on enzyme activity, but there was a marked increase in the activity of glutamine synthetase in starved (30-40%), streptozotocin-diabetic (17%), dexamethasone-treated (18-22%), laparotomized (25-27%) and septic rats (24-45%).     

Disequilibrium in the malate dehydrogenase reaction in rat liver mitochondria in vivo

1. When [2-(14)C]pyruvate is injected into rats the C3-position of liver glutamate becomes more heavily labelled than the C2-position, thus establishing that oxaloacetate and fumarate are not in equilibrium in rat liver mitochondria in vivo. The amount of disequilibrium was shown to be simply related to the value that the C3-label/C2-label ratio would have were no label recycled. This ratio, z, was calculated for post-absorptive rats in environmental temperatures of 20 degrees and 30 degrees C from determinations of the distribution of label within glutamate 1, 3 and 10min after intravenous injection of [2-(14)C]pyruvate. The values of z (best estimate and range) were 1.65 (1.60-1.69) in rats at 20 degrees C and 2.43 (2.23-2.63) in rats at 30 degrees C. These values of z imply the following rates of interconversion in mitochondria of fumarate and oxaloacetate (in terms of the oxaloacetate-->citrate flux, R) in rats at 20 degrees C: [Formula: see text] and in rats at 30 degrees C: [Formula: see text] 2. The kinetic parameters of malate dehydrogenase and fumarate hydratase and the intramitochondrial concentrations of NAD(+) and NADH under (as far as could be judged) conditions in vivo were collated. From them and the best estimates of R now available were calculated the rates of interconversion of fumarate, malate and oxaloacetate required to give the found values of z. These rates showed that the fumarate hydratase reaction was nearly in equilibrium, but that the malate dehydrogenase reaction was considerably out of equilibrium. The calculations also led to the following conclusions. 3. In livers of rats at 20 degrees and 30 degrees C mitochondrial malate concentrations were respectively about 5 and 1.5 times mean cellular concentrations. 4. Mitochondrial oxaloacetate concentrations were less than 0.2 of the mean cellular concentrations. They were also only 0.65 and 0.55 of the equilibrium concentrations for the malate dehydrogenase reaction in rats at 20 degrees and 30 degrees C respectively. 5. Malate dehydrogenase activity was low because of the very low oxaloacetate concentrations in the mitochondria and the very small fraction of the enzyme complexed with NAD(+), i.e. in each direction one substrate concentration was very sub-optimal.     

Postnatal development of the hepatobiliary transport of phenolsulfonphthalein in rats

1. The postnatal development of the biliary excretion of phenolsulfonphthalein (PSP) was studied in male Wistar rats. 2. Following i.v. injection of PSP at 200 mumol/kg body wt, a maximal biliary excretion of 175 +/- 10 nmol/min/100 g body wt and 32 +/- 5 nmol/min/100 g body wt was reached for unconjugated and conjugated PSP, respectively, in the adult group. 3. The maximal biliary excretion of conjugated PSP was significantly lower in the 20-, 30- and 40-day-old groups as compared to the adults. The excretion of unconjugated dye was also significantly lower in 20- and 30-day-old rats. 4. The postnatal development of PSP excretion was unrelated to changes in the activity of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase. The importance of other factors is also discussed.     

The role of leucine in ketogenesis in starved rats.

The quantitative significance of the conversion in vivo of L-[U-14C]leucine to ketone bodies was determined in rats starved for 3 or 48 h. In animals starved for 3 h, 4.4% of ketone-body carbon is derived from the metabolism of leucine, and in rats starved for 48 h the corresponding value is 2.3%. This conversion occurs rapidly, and the specific radioactivity of ketone bodies in blood is maximal at 2 min after the intravenous injection of labelled leucine for both periods of starvation. The flux of leucine in the blood is 1.01 and 1.04 mumol/min per 100 g body wt. respectively for animals starved for 3 and 48 h. The specific radioactivity of blood ketone bodies was compared at 2 min after the injection of labelled leucine, lysine and phenylalanine. The specific radioactivity was 4-5 fold higher with leucine than with lysine or phenylalanine.     

Stimulation of mitochondrial functions by glucagon treatment, starvation and by treatment of isolated mitochondria with glycogen-bound enzymes

Liver mitochondria isolated from rats starved overnight, or fed rats injected with glucagon, exhibited a similar increase of the respiration rate with succinate (by 30-40%) and glutamate plus malate (by 20-30%), as compared to mitochondria from control fed animals. The content of mitochondrial adenine nucleotides was elevated by 30-45% by glucagon treatment or starvation. Mitochondrial respiration and citrulline synthesis were stimulated by 30-40% when mitochondria isolated from fed rats were briefly preincubated with the extract from liver glycogen granules, ATP and MgCl2. This effect was abolished by heating the extract at 100 degrees C.     

Measurement of adipose-tissue metabolites in vivo

1. The concentrations of glucose, pyruvate, lactate, citrate, glutamate, malate and aspartate were measured in epididymal adipose tissue from starved, fed and starved-re-fed rats. 2. To measure these intermediates it was necessary to correct for their concentration in the extracellular tissue space, which was considered to be most satisfactorily equated with the glucose space. This space in vivo was 7.42, 4.90 and 7.54ml./100g. wet wt. of tissue in adipose tissue taken from starved, fed and starved-re-fed rats respectively. After correction for the glucose space, the concentrations of metabolites (nmoles/g. of cells) in epididymal adipose tissue of fed rats were: pyruvate, 8.5; lactate, 50.3; citrate, 18.5; glutamate, 100.0; malate, 6.4; aspartate, 34.2. 3. Starvation for 72hr. resulted in a fall in pyruvate and aspartate concentrations to 3.57 and 25.1nmoles/g.; starvation for 72hr. followed by re-feeding for 72hr. caused an increase in glutamate and aspartate concentrations to 140 and 67.6nmoles/g. 4. These changes are interpreted with regard to the simultaneous alteration in lipogenesis that occurs during the starvation-re-feeding cycle.     

Effect of exercise on glycogen level in muscles and liver in rats

The effect of exercise of glycogen level in skeletal muscles and liver was studied in Wistar rats. The previously untrained animals were subjected to one-time exercise in form of swimming in water at 32 degrees C for 10, 20 and 30 min. The glycogen level in the muscles (in g per 100 g of tissue) fell down during the first 10 minutes of the exercise by a mean value of 0.45 g. During the following 10 minutes the decrease was smaller amounting on the average to 0.1 g. After 30 min the glycogen level in the muscles was about 0.1 g/100 g of tissue. Respective falls of glycogen level in the liver were on the average 0.99 g and 0.40 g/100 g of tissue. After 30 min of exercise the glycogen level in the liver was 1.2 g/100 g of tissue. The fall of glycogen level in the muscles was similar at all times during exercise in all animals, but in the liver fairly significant differences were observed in the first 10 min between individual groups of rats. Later on during exercise the differences in the liver glycogen falls decreased.     

Carbohydrate metabolism in the isolated perfused rat kidney

1. Anaerobic formation of lactate from glucose by isolated perfused rat kidney (411mumol/h per g dry wt.) was three times as fast as in aerobic conditions (138mumol/h per g). 2. In aerobic or in anaerobic conditions, the ratio of lactate production to glucose utilization was about 2. 3. Starvation or acidosis caused a decline of about 30% in the rate of aerobic glycolysis. 4. The rate of formation of glucose from lactate by perfused kidney from a well-fed rat, in the presence of 5mm-acetoacetate (83mumol/h per g dry wt.), was of the same order as the rate of aerobic glycolysis. 5. During perfusion with physiological concentrations of glucose (5mm) and lactate (2mm) there were negligible changes in the concentration of either substrate. 6. Comparison of kidneys perfused with lactate, from well-fed or starved rats, showed no major differences in contents of intermediates of gluconeogenesis. 7. The tissue concentrations of hexose monophosphates and C(3) phosphorylated glycolytic intermediates (except triose phosphate) were decreased in anaerobic conditions. 8. Aerobic metabolism of fructose by perfused kidney was rapid: the rate of glucose formation was 726mumol/h per g dry wt. and of lactate formation 168mumol/h per g (dry wt.). Glycerol and d-glyceraldehyde were also released into the medium. 9. Aerobically, fructose generated high concentrations of glycolytic intermediates. 10. Anaerobic production of lactate from fructose (74mumol/h per g dry wt.) was slower than the aerobic rate. 11. In both anaerobic and aerobic conditions the ratio [lactate]/[pyruvate] in kidney or medium was lower during perfusion with fructose than with glucose. 12. These results are discussed in terms of the regulation of renal carbohydrate metabolism.     

Conversion of pyruvate into ketone bodies in rat hepatocyte suspensions.

The contribution of pyruvate to ketogenesis was determined in rat hepatocyte suspensions by using [14C]pyruvate. The rates of conversion of pyruvate into ketone bodies in hepatocytes from fed and 24 h-starved rats were 10 and 17 mumol/h per g wet wt. respectively, and accounted for 50 and 29% of the total ketone bodies formed. In hepatocytes from fed rats, the addition of palmitate (0.25-1 mM) increased the rate of conversion of pyruvate into ketone bodies (80-140%), but decreased the relative contribution of pyruvate to total ketogenesis. In hepatocytes from starved rats, palmitate did not increase pyruvate conversion into ketone bodies.     

Formation of hexose 6-phosphates from lactate + pyruvate + glutamate by a cell-free system from rat liver.

A cell-free system prepared from rat liver containing cytosol and mitochondria as well as a number of cofactors and gluconeogenic intermediates at near-physiological concentrations was shown to form hexose 6-phosphates linearly from lactate + pyruvate + glutamate at a rate of 0.82 +/- 0.05 mumol/min per g of liver (mean +/- S.E.M., n = 8, 37 degrees C). The indicated rates were measured between 20 min and 60 min incubation time, when the system was near steady state. Experiments with either [1-14C]lactate or [U-14C]glutamate revealed that the incorporation of radioactive label into hexose 6-phosphates was proportional to the utilization of lactate + pyruvate and of glutamate during incubation and that both served as gluconeogenic substrates at a ratio of about 2:1. When the [ATP]/[ADP] ratio was lowered from 60 to 19 by addition of ATPase, the rate of hexose 6-phosphate formation fell to one-third. This decrease in gluconeogenic flux was mainly due to a decreased flow through the phosphoglycerate kinase step. Hexose 6-phosphate formation could also be decreased by increasing the ratio [NADH]/[NAD+], either by addition of ethanol or by increasing the initial concentration of lactate + pyruvate at a fixed ratio of 10:1. The observed inhibition was linked to a limitation in the availability of oxaloacetate for the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase reaction and to an increased formation of sn-glycerol 3-phosphate. Finally, the rates of hexose 6-phosphate formation in incubations with cytosols from fed rats were only 50% of those observed with cytosols from animals starved for 48 h. One of the limiting steps was found to be the flow through the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase step.     

Lactate production in the perfused rat liver

1. In aerobic conditions the isolated perfused liver from well-fed rats rapidly formed lactate from endogenous glycogen until the lactate concentration in the perfusion medium reached about 2mm (i.e. the concentration of lactate in blood in vivo) and then production ceased. Pyruvate was formed in proportion to the lactate, the [lactate]/[pyruvate] ratio remaining between 8 and 15. 2. The addition of 5mm- or 10mm-glucose did not affect lactate production, but 20mm- and 40mm-glucose greatly increased lactate production. This effect of high glucose concentration can be accounted for by the activity of glucokinase. 3. The perfused liver released glucose into the medium until the concentration was about 6mm. When 5mm- or 10mm-glucose was added to the medium much less glucose was released. 4. At high glucose concentrations (40mm) more glucose was taken up than lactate and pyruvate were produced; the excess of glucose was probably converted into glycogen. 5. In anaerobic conditions, livers of well-fed rats produced lactate at relatively high rates (2.5mumol/min per g wet wt.). Glucose was also rapidly released, at an initial rate of 3.2mumol/min per g wet wt. Both lactate and glucose production ceased when the liver glycogen was depleted. 6. Addition of 20mm-glucose increased the rate of anaerobic production of lactate. 7. d-Fructose also increased anaerobic production of lactate. In the presence of 20mm-fructose some glucose was formed anaerobically from fructose. 8. In the perfused liver from starved rats the rate of lactate formation was very low and the increase after addition of glucose and fructose was slight. 9. The glycolytic capacity of the liver from well-fed rats is equivalent to its capacity for fatty acid synthesis and it is pointed out that hepatic glycolysis (producing acetyl-CoA in aerobic conditions) is not primarily an energy-providing process but part of the mechanism converting carbohydrate into fat.     

Effects of ischaemia on content of metabolites in rat liver and kidney in vivo

1. The time-course of changes in content of intermediates of glycolysis in rat liver and kidney cortex after severance of blood supply was investigated. 2. The decline in content of ATP was more rapid in kidney (1.7-0.5mumol/g in 30s) than in liver (2.7-1.6mumol/g in 60s). In both tissues AMP and P(i) accumulated. 3. Net formation of lactate was 1.7mumol/g during the second minute of ischaemia in liver from well-fed rats, 1.1mumol/g in liver from 48h-starved rats, and about 1.0mumol/g during the first 30s of ischaemia in kidney. Net formation of alpha-glycerophosphate was rapid, especially in liver. 4. In kidney the concentration of beta-hydroxybutyrate rose, but that of alpha-oxoglutarate and acetoacetate decreased. 5. In both organs the concentrations of fructose diphosphate and triose phosphates increased during ischaemia and those of other phosphorylated C(3) intermediates decreased. 6. The concentration of the hexose 6-phosphates rose rapidly during the first minute of ischaemia in liver, but decreased during renal ischaemia. 7. In kidney the content of glutamine fell after 2min of ischaemia, and that of ammonia and glutamate rose. 8. The redox states of the cytoplasmic and mitochondrial NAD couple in kidney cortex were similar to those in liver. 9. The regulatory role of glycogen phosphorylase, pyruvate kinase and phosphofructokinase is discussed in relation to the observed changes in the concentrations of the glycolytic intermediates.     

Effect of ischaemic limb injury on the rates of metabolism of ketone bodies in starved rats.

1. Rats starved for 30h were injected with trace amounts of [3-14C]acetoacetate and beta-hydroxy[3-14C]butyrate 1h after ischaemic limb injury in a 20 degrees C environment, and the concentrations and radioactivities of blood ketone bodies were determined at intervals. 2. Starvation alone raised the rates of production and utilization of beta-hydroxybutyrate plus acetoacetate about 3.7-fold, but lowered their metabolic clearance rates by about 50%. In the starved rat ketone-body oxidation could account for up to 30% of whole body O2 consumption. 3. Injury in starved rats lowered the rates of production and utilization of both beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate, the combined fall of about 37% slightly exceeding the concomitant fall in whole-body O2 consumption. The concentration of beta-hydroxybutyrate decreased after injury, but its metabolic clearance rate was unaltered; the concentration of acetoacetate rose slightly and its metabolic clearance rate fell.     

Application of high-field 1H-NMR spectroscopy for the study of perifused amphibian and excised mammalian muscles

Frog sartorius and gastrocnemius muscles were perifused at 20 degrees C, the intracellular pH (pHi) and the concentration of phosphocreatine were determined in the resting muscle by 1H-NMR spectroscopy at 470 MHz; values of pHi = 7.31 +/- 0.05 (n = 7) and concentration of phosphocreatine = 20.4 +/- 1.1 mumol/g wet wt. (n = 6) were found. The hydrolysis of phosphocreatine and the simultaneous increase in lactate upon perifusion with 10 mM caffeine (in Ringer's solution) was followed with a time resolution of 1 min. Lactate increased at a rate of 1.0 mumol/g per min, but no pHi change was recorded during the time monitored. The lower limit for the buffering capacity of the muscle cytosol was estimated to be 16.7 mumol/g muscle per pH unit from the uncertainty in pHi determination (+/- 0.03 pH units) and from the amount of lactate produced and phosphocreatine hydrolyzed. Changes in pHi, lactate concentration and fatty acyl chain intensity were monitored by 1H-NMR spectroscopy at 361 MHz in ischemic rat skeletal muscle, excised and stored at 20 degrees C. The resonances in the 1H-NMR spectrum of a human skeletal muscle perchloric acid extract are reported and tentatively assigned.     

The effect of acute ethanol treatment on rates of oxygen uptake, ethanol oxidation and gluconeogenesis in isolated rat hepatocytes.

In hepatocytes isolated from fed rats, acute ethanol pretreatment (at a dose of 5.0 g/kg body wt.) did not change rates of O2 uptake. In cells from starved animals, acute ethanol pretreatment increased O2 uptake by 17-29%. The increased O2 uptake in hepatocytes from starved rats was not accompanied by increased rates of ethanol oxidation, but was accompanied by increased rates of gluconeogenesis under some conditions. The provision of ethanol (10 mM) as a substrate to cells from fed or starved rats decreased O2 uptake in the absence of other substrates or in the presence of lactate, and increased it in the presence of pyruvate or lactate and pyruvate. The results of this study show that the acute effects of ethanol on liver O2 uptake are dependent on the physiological state of the liver. Previously reported large (2-fold) increases in O2 uptake after acute ethanol pretreatment may have been an artefact owing to low control uptake rates (approximately 1.8 micromol/min per g wet wt. of cells) in the liver preparation used. The ATP contents (2.4-2.6 micromol/g wet wt. of cells) and rates of O2 uptake (2.5-5.0 micromol/min per g wet wt. of cells) of cells used in the present study were the same as values reported under conditions close to those in vivo. Therefore the increase in O2 uptake in cells from starved rats after acute ethanol pretreatment is likely to be of physiological significance.     

Plasma glutathione turnover in the rat: effect of fasting and buthionine sulfoximine

Hepatic glutathione (GSH) plays an important role in the detoxification of reactive molecular intermediates. Because of evidence that the intrahepatic turnover of glutathione in the rat may be largely accounted for by efflux from hepatocytes into the general circulation, the quantitation of plasma GSH turnover in vivo could provide a noninvasive index of hepatic glutathione metabolism. We developed a method to estimate plasma glutathione turnover and clearance in the intact, anesthetized rat using a 30-min unprimed, continuous infusion of 35S-labelled GSH. A steady state of free plasma glutathione specific radioactivity was achieved within 10 min, as determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography with fluorometric detection after precolumn derivatization of the plasma samples with monobromobimane. The method was tested after two treatments known to alter hepatic GSH metabolism: 90 min after intraperitoneal injection of 4 mmol/kg buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), an inhibitor of glutathione synthesis, and after a 48-h fast. Liver glutathione concentration (mean +/- SEM) was 5.00 +/- 0.53 mumol/g wet weight in control rats. It decreased to 3.10 +/- 0.35 mumol/g wet weight after BSO injection and to 3.36 +/- 0.14 mumol/g wet weight after fasting (both p less than 0.05). Plasma glutathione turnover was 63.0 +/- 7.46 nmol.min-1.100 g-1 body weight in control rats, 35.0 +/- 2.92 nmol.min-1.g-1 body weight in BSO-treated rats, and 41.7 +/- 2.28 nmol.min-1.g-1 body weight after fasting (both p less than 0.05), thus reflecting the hepatic alterations. This approach might prove useful in the noninvasive assessment of liver glutathione status.     

Selenium in the anterior pituitary of the rat after a single injection of75Se sodium selenite

In order to investigate the selenite metabolism in the anterior pituitary and compare it with other endocrine organs, rats were injected intraperitoneally with⁷⁵Se sodium selenite (5 mg/kg). The rats were whole body counted shortly after injection and recounted just before sacrifice, which was performed 2, 24, 48 h, and 4, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, and 80 d after injection. Besides the anterior pituitary, the selenium content was also estimated in the thyroid gland, testis, adrenals, liver, kidney, and blood. The maximum selenium content was observed in all organs 2 h after injection, at which time the anterior pituitary contained 2.9 μg/g wet wt, compared to 13.5 μ/g wet wt in liver and .6 μg/mg wet wt in testis. The excretion of selenite from the anterior pituitary resembled that seen in most other organs investigated, i.e., an initial rapid excretion and a slower secondary phase resembling a first order reaction. Practically all selenium was excreted by 60 d after injection.