Developmental changes of citrullinogenesis, mitochondrial N-acetylglutamate content and N-acetylglutamate synthetase in fetal and neonatal rats

A low citrullinogenesis (less than 60 per cent of the adult value) was observed throughout the suckling period when mitochondria isolated from newborn rat liver were incubated in vitro with L-glutamate or succinate as oxidizable substrates. The adult value was reached after weaning. From birth to weaning, intact mitochondria synthesized more citrulline when supplemented with L-glutamate than with succinate. The low citrullinogenesis could not be explained by low carbamoylphosphate synthetase-I and ornithine transcarbamoylase activities that reached adult values at birth. The decreased citrullinogenesis seen for the first three days of life seemed to be related to the low intramitochondrial concentration of N-acetylglutamate, an activator of the carbamoylphosphate synthetase-I. The concentration of this activator did not differ from that reported for adult rat liver mitochondria after the fourth day of life. The discrepancy between the normal value of N-acetylglutamate concentration and the low activity of the N-acetylglutamate synthetase (15 to 30 per cent of the adult activity) is discussed on the basis of acetyl-CoA or L-glutamate availability in mitochondria isolated from newborn or young rats.