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PubMed1980

Enzymes involved in 3,5-diaminohexanoate degradation by Brevibacterium sp.

Cell-free extracts of Brevibacterium sp. L5 grown on DL-erythro-3,5-diaminohexanoate were found to contain a 3-keto-5-aminohexanoate cleavage enzyme that converts 3-keto-5-aminohexanoate and acetyl-coenzyme A (CokA) to 3-aminobutyryl-CoA and acetoacetate and a deaminase that coverts L-3-aminobutyryl-CoA to crotonyl-CoA. The cleavage enzyme has been purified extensively, and some of its properties have been determined for comparison with the 3-keto-6-acetamido-hexanoate cleavage enzyme of Pseudomonas sp. B4. The deaminase has been partially purified and characterized. Both the cleavage enzyme and the deaminase are induced by growth on 3,5-diaminohexanoate. The presence of these and other accessory enzymes in Brevibacterium sp. extracts accounts for the results of earlier tracer experiments which showed that C-1 and C-2 of 3-keto-5-aminohexanoate are converted mainly to acetoacetate and acetate, whereas C-3 to C-6 are converted mainly to 3-hydroxybutyrate or its coenzyme A thiolester. The enzymes observed in extracts of Brevibacterium sp. can account for the conversion of 3,5-diaminohexanoate to acetyl-CoA.

Amino Acids, Diamino↗

PubMed2001

Evidence that a linear megaplasmid encodes enzymes of aliphatic alkene and epoxide metabolism and coenzyme M (2-mercaptoethanesulfonate) biosynthesis in Xanthobacter strain Py2.

The bacterial metabolism of propylene proceeds by epoxidation to epoxypropane followed by a sequence of three reactions resulting in epoxide ring opening and carboxylation to form acetoacetate. Coenzyme M (2-mercaptoethanesulfonic acid) (CoM) plays a central role in epoxide carboxylation by serving as the nucleophile for epoxide ring opening and the carrier of the C(3) unit that is ultimately carboxylated to acetoacetate, releasing CoM. In the present work, a 320-kb linear megaplasmid has been identified in the gram-negative bacterium Xanthobacter strain Py2, which contains the genes encoding the key enzymes of propylene oxidation and epoxide carboxylation. Repeated subculturing of Xanthobacter strain Py2 under nonselective conditions, i.e., with glucose or acetate as the carbon source in the absence of propylene, resulted in the loss of the propylene-positive phenotype. The propylene-negative phenotype correlated with the loss of the 320-kb linear megaplasmid, loss of induction and expression of alkene monooxgenase and epoxide carboxylation enzyme activities, and the loss of CoM biosynthetic capability. Sequence analysis of a hypothetical protein (XecG), encoded by a gene located downstream of the genes for the four enzymes of epoxide carboxylation, revealed a high degree of sequence identity with proteins of as-yet unassigned functions in the methanogenic archaea Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum and Methanococcus jannaschii and in Bacillus subtilis. The M. jannaschii homolog of XecG, MJ0255, is located next to a gene, MJ0256, that has been shown to encode a key enzyme of CoM biosynthesis (M. Graupner, H. Xu, and R. H. White, J. Bacteriol. 182: 4862-4867, 2000). We propose that the propylene-positive phenotype of Xanthobacter strain Py2 is dependent on the selective maintenance of a linear megaplasmid containing the genes for the key enzymes of alkene oxidation, epoxide carboxylation, and CoM biosynthesis.

Alkenes↗

PubMed1992

Energy metabolism in developing brain cells.

During development different energy substrates are available to cells in brain in plentiful supply. The metabolic environment, which is dictated by the milk diet rich in fat, ensures that substrates in addition to glucose are available as fuels. Some substrates serve readily as primary fuels for respiration, whereas other substrates can serve other functions in addition to serving as primary fuels. Primary fuels for respiration serve to supply acetyl CoA directly and as a result always have first priority. With this criteria in mind, a consideration of substrate priority for respiration by developing brain is presented. Many studies in the decade, 1970-1980, in human infants and in the rat pup model show that both glucose and the ketone bodies, acetoacetate and D-(-)-3-hydroxybutyrate, are taken up by brain and used for energy production and as carbon sources for lipogenesis. Products of fat metabolism, free fatty acids, ketone bodies, and glycerol dominate metabolic pools in early development as a consequence of the milk diet. This recognition of a distinctive metabolic environment from the well-fed adult was taken into consideration within the last decade when methods became available to obtain and study each of the major cell populations, neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes in near homogeneous state in primary cultures. Studies on these cells made it possible to examine the distinctive metabolic properties and capabilities of each cell population to oxidize the metabolites that are available in development. Studies by many investigators on these cell populations show that all three can use glucose and the ketone bodies in respiration and for lipogenesis. Only one cell type, the astrocytes, can beta-oxidize fatty acids such as octanoate. By comparing the production of labeled carbon dioxide from glucose labeled on carbon-1 compared with carbon-6, it is clear that all three cell populations are capable of active hexose monophosphate shunt activity. Neurons and oligodendrocytes are capable of making good use of acetoacetate and D-(-)-3-hydroxybutyrate, whereas the best substrate for astrocytes is fatty acid. Under comparable conditions of incubation with astrocytes, fatty acids serve better than ketones, which in turn serve better than glucose in respiration. Some of the major factors that can explain the differing observations by different investigators on the capacity for substrate oxidation are presented. Over the last decade, astrocytes have captured the attention of neurobiologists because they have special attributes as metabolic support cells for the management of intermediary metabolism in brain.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Role of acidosis in regulating hepatic nitrogen metabolism during fasting in conscious dog.

This study was designed to investigate the role that acidosis plays in the metabolic responses to fasting. Eighteen conscious dogs with surgically implanted catheters in the femoral artery and in the hepatic, portal, and renal veins were studied. Six were fasted for 24 h and 12 were fasted for 4 days (96 h). On the day of the study, six 4-day fasted dogs were infused intravenously with NaHCO3 (10 mumol X kg-1 X min-1) for 3 h, while the rest received saline and acted as controls. Splanchnic balances of glutamine, alanine, blood urea nitrogen, ammonia, lactate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, and acetoacetate were estimated using the Fick principle. Blood flow to the splanchnic and renal beds were estimated using indocyanine green and p-aminohippurate extraction methods, respectively. The infusion of NaHCO3 nearly abolished the base deficit associated with fasting and normalized arterial bicarbonate levels but did not alter blood pH. It suppressed but did not abolish hepatic glutamine output by 60%. This was associated with a shift in cytoplasmic and mitochondrial redox potentials of the hepatocyte as evident by a decrease in hepatic production of beta-hydroxybutyrate and an increase in hepatic production of acetoacetate and a decrease in hepatic lactate utilization. Concomitantly, renal glutamine uptake decreased. Glutamine release of skeletal muscle was unchanged. The data suggest that hepatic glutamine synthesis and release seen with 4-day fasting has two components: a bicarbonate-dependent component that is influenced by the redox potential of the hepatocyte and a bicarbonate-independent component, the nature of which is not yet clear.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acidosis↗

PubMed1988

Fatty acid-independent inhibition of hepatic ketone body production by insulin in humans.

To investigate whether elevated plasma insulin or glucagon concentrations are capable of modifying hepatic ketogenesis independently of plasma free fatty acid (FFA) concentrations, ketone body production was determined by [3-14C]acetoacetate infusions in overnight-fasted normal subjects during exogenous supply of FFA (Intralipid and heparin infusion). When plasma FFA concentrations were elevated from 0.73 +/- 0.07 to 1.53 +/- 0.16 mmol/l during low insulin concentrations (approximately equal to 13 microU/ml) in group A (n = 7), total ketone body production increased from 3.6 +/- 0.6 to 8.2 +/- 1.0 mumol.kg-1.min-1 (P less than 0.001). When plasma FFA were similarly elevated during raised plasma insulin concentrations (approximately equal to 110 microU/ml) in group B (n = 5), total ketone body production was only 3.8 +/- 0.8 mumol.kg-1.min-1 (P less than 0.01 vs. group A). Low plasma FFA and low insulin concentrations resulted in total ketone body production of 0.70 +/- 0.18 mumol.kg-1.min-1 in group C (n = 7; P less than 0.01 vs. groups A and B). Elevation of plasma glucagon during Intralipid infusion in group D (n = 7) failed to affect ketogenesis, but the beta-hydroxybutyrate-to-acetoacetate concentration ratio decreased significantly (P less than 0.01). The data indicate that elevation of plasma insulin to high physiological concentrations restrains FFA-induced ketogenesis.

Blood Glucose↗

PubMed1990

Ischemia in normoglycemic and hyperglycemic rats: plasma energy substrates and hormones.

Seizures are a documented complication to cerebral ischemia. After 10 min of forebrain ischemia in rats, preischemic hyperglycemia invariably leads to severe, most often fatal epileptic attacks. This outcome is related to the exaggerated lactic acidosis, which has been suggested as a possible contributor to severe membrane changes and widespread edema. To find out if circulating hormones or plasma energy substrates modulate this additive damage caused by the hyperglycemia, plasma concentrations of of corticosterone, epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, glucagon, insulin, glucose, free fatty acids (FFA), 3-hydroxybutyrate, and acetoacetate were measured before and in the early recirculation period after 15 min of forebrain ischemia in the rat. Plasma corticosterone levels did not differ between the normo- and hyperglycemic groups. Although not significantly different from control, the catecholamine levels showed a tendency to be higher in the hyperglycemic groups. Therefore, because catecholamines have been reported to have a protective effect during ischemia the present result cannot explain why hyperglycemia aggravates the ischemic damage. Insulin levels seemed to increase during ischemia but not significantly. Levels quickly returned to normal after 30 min of recirculation. FFA concentrations were reduced after the induction of ischemia and appeared lower in all hyperglycemic groups. The level of one of the ketone bodies, 3-hydroxybutyrate, showed a significant decrease in hyperglycemic ischemia in all groups compared with normoglycemic ischemia. The same tendency was seen for acetoacetate. Results are compatible with a protective role of ketone bodies in ischemia. It is concluded that among the hormones and substrates studied only the ketone body concentrations qualify as a modulator of the exaggerated brain damage after ischemia in hyperglycemic subjects.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Forearm ketone body metabolism in normal and in insulin-dependent diabetic patients.

In insulin deficiency, there is excessive arterial delivery of free fatty acid (FFA) to muscles where they are converted to acetoacetyl-CoA and acetyl-CoA. These intermediates may be metabolized further to acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate, which can be released into the venous circulation. When ketone body (KB) tracers are infused in vivo, they are diluted across muscle tissue. This dilution may be due to 1) KB newly formed within muscle (ketogenesis); 2) exchange of tracer between labeled and unlabeled acetyl-CoA and acetoacetyl-CoA, intermediates common to the metabolism of both FFA and KB (pseudoketogenesis). Thus this study assessed whether such label exchange could be detected across the human forearm and whether an increased delivery of FFA in insulin-sufficient controls provoked dilution of labeled KB tracer comparable to that observed in insulin-deficient diabetics. Five normal and five insulin-dependent diabetic (IDDM) subjects were infused with labeled [3,4-13C2]-acetoacetate. [13C]KB enrichments were lower in forearm vein than in the artery, and dilution of labeled KB was always higher than that which could be explained by arterial-venous differences of unlabeled KB. When arterial FFA concentrations in normals were raised (Intralipid+heparin) to values comparable to those of the diabetics, no additional increase in forearm arteriovenous dilution of labeled KB was observed. Neither in the basal state nor under conditions of increased plasma FFA were we able to detect venous appearance of KB labeled in the first and in the second carbon atoms, a necessary consequence of pseudoketogenesis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Hepatic VLDL secretion of genetically obese Zucker rats is inhibited by a high-fat diet.

Hepatocytes from obese and lean Zucker rats adapted to a control (C) or a high-fat (HF) diet were prepared for the study of fatty acid (FA) uptake, partition between oxidation and esterification, and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) production. A first 2-h kinetic study showed higher oleate uptake on a C diet by obese rat cells and an almost exclusive esterification to triacylglycerol (TG), VLDL secretion being 2.5-fold higher in obese rat cells and enhanced 1.4-fold in both genotypes in the presence of 0.7 mM oleate vs. 0.1 mM or no oleate. Fat feeding 1) decreased oleate uptake, esterification, incorporation into VLDL-TG, and mass VLDL-TG secretion and 2) abolished the VLDL-TG increase by 0.7 mM oleate. Similar but more pronounced effects were obtained in fat-fed lean animals. A second kinetic study using very short incubation times up to 1 h confirmed that fat feeding decreased oleate uptake and esterification, greatly stimulating its oxidation and production of acetoacetate (obese) or acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate (lean). Synthesis of lactate and pyruvate greatly decreased under HF feeding, remaining higher in obese rat cells. The drastic inhibition of labeled and total hepatic VLDL-TG secretion in obese and lean Zucker rats by the HF diet could be partly explained by decreased exogenous FA availability for VLDL-TG synthesis through its greater channeling toward oxidation and, indirectly, by the altered hepatocyte metabolic state.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

Ketone bodies and brain glutamate and GABA metabolism.

The effects of ketone bodies on brain metabolism of glutamate and GABA were studied in three different systems: synaptosomes, cultured astrocytes and the whole animal. In synaptosomes the addition of either acetoacetate or 3-OH-butyrate was associated with diminished consumption of glutamate via transamination to aspartate and increased formation of labelled GABA from either L-[2H5-2,3,3,4, 4]glutamine or L-[15N]glutamine. There was no effect of ketone bodies on synaptosomal GABA transamination. An increase of total forebrain GABA and a diminution of aspartate was noted when mice were injected intraperitoneally with 3-OH-butyrate. In cultured astrocytes the addition of acetoacetate to the medium was associated with a significantly enhanced rate of citrate production and with a diminution in the rate of conversion of [15N]glutamate to [15N]aspartate. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that the metabolism of ketone bodies to acetyl-CoA results in a diminution of the pool of brain oxaloacetate, which is consumed in the citrate synthetase reaction (oxaloacetate + acetyl-CoA --> citrate). As less oxaloacetate is available to the aspartate aminotransferase reaction, thereby lowering the rate of glutamate transamination, more glutamate becomes accessible to the glutamate decarboxylase pathway, thereby favoring the synthesis of GABA.

Animals↗

PubMed1983

Changes in availability of glucogenic and ketogenic substrates and liver metabolism in fed or starved rats.

The characteristics of the digestive and hepatic metabolism of glucogenic and ketogenic substrates were studied in vivo in fed or starved rats. For this purpose, a procedure for blood flow measurements in the splanchnic area was developed, based on an indicator-dilution technique. Hepatic blood flow (HBF) was markedly reduced after 24 h starvation, mainly corresponding to the decrease of portal blood supply; however, HBF expressed per gram liver was almost unchanged. In overnight-fed rats, glucose absorption was limited and glucose was released by the liver, essentially after gluconeogenesis from C3 units: alanine was the main glucogenic substrate removed by the liver, then propionate and lactate, whereas only a slight release of pyruvate occurred. As large amounts of lactate were released by the digestive tract, there was a net production of lactate in the splanchnic area. In contrast, in starved rats, lactate became the main glucogenic substrate removed by the liver as its fractional extraction was raised from 7% (fed) to 58% (starved) whereas the contribution of alanine and propionate to gluconeogenesis was limited by their availability, their hepatic extraction being highly efficient in fed and in starved rats. The present results are consistent with the view that glucose turnover was practically halved during starvation and suggest that net glucose cycling via lactate was very low in fed rats but could correspond to about 40% of produced glucose in starved rats. Besides propionate, acetate and butyrate made a significant contribution to fuel supply for hepatic metabolism in fed rats, acetate availability for extrasplanchnic tissues remained relatively constant. FFA were extensively removed by the liver (50%) in starved rats and ketogenesis could account for 68% of removed FFA. In spite of low concentrations in the artery, acetoacetate was released by the liver at a higher rate than 3-hydroxybutyrate. This process could correspond to a higher turnover rate for acetoacetate, nevertheless not evident in portal-drained viscera where net 3-hydroxybutyrate uptake was observed only.

Blood Glucose↗

PubMed1992

Ischemic brain damage is not ameliorated by 1,3-butanediol in hyperglycemic rats.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Treatment with the ketone body precursor 1,3-butanediol has been suggested to ameliorate hypoxic/ischemic brain damage. Butanediol could provide an alternative energy substrate for the brain, thereby decreasing the amount of glycolytically produced lactate. Hyperglycemia aggravates brain damage after brain ischemia and causes fatal postischemic seizures, probably by increasing the production of lactate and decreasing the pH. We studied whether butanediol treatment altered the adverse consequences following ischemia complicated by hyperglycemia. METHODS: Hyperglycemic adult male rats were given 25 or 50 mmol.kg-1 body wt butanediol intravenously 30 minutes before 10 minutes of transient forebrain ischemia. Morphological evaluation was performed following perfusion-fixation after 15 hours of recovery. Blood concentrations of beta-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate, glucose, and lactate and brain tissue concentrations of energy metabolites were measured before and after ischemia. RESULTS: Blood levels of ketone bodies increased in the butanediol-treated rats. Ischemia decreased the blood levels of acetoacetate but increased the levels of beta-hydroxybutyrate by a similar amount, resulting in unchanged high levels of total ketone bodies in the animals that received butanediol. Brain tissue levels of glucose, energy metabolites, and lactate showed no difference between butanediol- and saline-treated rats. Furthermore, compared with saline-treated animals butanediol-treated rats showed no decrease in brain damage and no attenuation in the development of postischemic seizures. CONCLUSIONS: The ketone body precursor 1,3-butanediol offers no protective effect in transient forebrain ischemia complicated by hyperglycemia.

Animals↗

PubMed1984

Lactate as a cerebral metabolic fuel for glucose-6-phosphatase deficient children.

The main substrates for brain energy metabolism were measured in blood samples taken from the carotid artery and the internal jugular bulb of four children with glycogen storage disease caused by deficiency of glucose-6-phosphatase. Multiple paired arterial and venous blood samples were analyzed for glucose, lactate, pyruvate, D-beta-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate, glycerol and O2, and the arteriovenous differences of the concentrations were calculated. In the first three patients the substrates were measured in two successive conditions with lower and higher glucose-intake, respectively, inducing reciprocally higher and lower concentrations of blood lactate. In the fourth patient medium chain triglycerides were administered simultaneously with the glucose-containing gastric drip feeding. Lactate appeared to be taken up significantly. It consumed, if completely oxidized, between 40-50% of the total O2 uptake in most cases. Only once in one patient the uptake of lactate switched to its release, when the blood lactate level decreased to normal. D-beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate arteriovenous (A-V) differences were small to negligible and these ketone bodies, therefore, did not contribute substantially to the brain's energy expenditure. Glycerol was not metabolized by the brain. Lactate thus appeared to be the second brain fuel next to glucose. It may protect the brain against fuel depletion in case of hypoglycemia.

Brain↗

PubMed1985

Metabolic quotients of the gravid uterus of the chronically catheterized guinea pig.

The uptake of substrates by the pregnant uterus defines the "diet" of the uterus and conceptus. In order to determine the uterine substrate uptake, catheters were placed in the femoral artery and uterine veins of guinea pigs at 40-49 days gestation. After at least 2 days recovery from perioperative stress, systemic arterial and uterine venous concentrations of oxygen, glucose, lactate, acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, acetate, and free fatty acids were measured and metabolic quotients were calculated. The glucose/O2 quotient was 1.22 +/- 0.07 (mean +/- SEM), the lactate/O2 quotient was -0.40 +/- 0.09, the acetoacetate/O2 quotient was 0.03 +/- 0.02, the beta-hydroxybutyrate/O2 quotient was 0.01 +/- 0.006, the acetate/O2 quotient was 0.03 +/- 0.01, and the free fatty acid/O2 quotient was 0.24 +/- 0.21. Among the substrates measured, glucose appears to be the major metabolic fuel of the pregnant guinea pig uterus, but does not account for all of the oxygen consumed by the uterus if adjusted for lactate production, since lactate is produced within the gravid uterus in large quantities. Acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate are utilized in negligible amounts.

Animals↗

PubMed1984

In vivo and in vitro effects of antiinsulin receptor antibodies.

We studied a patient with Acanthosis nigricans and the type B syndrome of severe insulin resistance. The patient's rates of basal glucose disappearance and appearance were both normal (2.2 and 1.7 mg/kg . min, respectively). FFA, betahydroxybutyrate, and acetoacetate concentrations were stable at 0.8, 1.0, and 0.3 mM, respectively, during a 2-h saline infusion after an overnight fast, indicating continued presence of insulin-like activity (ILA) in her serum. Infusion of insulin at rates of 2.7 and 27 U/h, raising peripheral insulin concentrations from 1400 to 4000 and 6000 microU/ml, respectively, had no effect on glucose disappearance and appearance or plasma concentrations of beta-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate, and FFA, suggesting that the observed ILA was not caused by the patient's plasma insulin. To determine the source of the ILA we used the patient's serum containing antiinsulin receptor antibodies (AIRA) to study its acute (2 h) and chronic (24 h) effects on insulin binding and glycogen synthesis in rat hepatocytes in primary culture. Preincubation of hepatocytes with AIRA serum (diluted 1:100) inhibited insulin binding by 84% and 88% after 2 and 24 h, respectively. It increased U-[14C]glucose incorporation into glycogen by 40% and 52% after 2 and 24 h, respectively. These effects were not caused by insulin present in the patient's serum. We conclude that AIRA serum, in addition to causing severe insulin resistance through inhibition of insulin binding, also exerted strong and long lasting insulin-like effects. These findings are compatible with the patient's clinical features of absence of ketoacidosis despite severe insulin resistance, decrease in glucose concentrations during fasting, and postprandial hyperglycemia.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

Effect of exercise on the disposal of infused ketone bodies in humans.

We previously reported that the stimulatory effect of exercise on the metabolic clearance of ketone bodies in postabsorptive subjects is abolished when plasma ketone body concentrations are elevated above 4 mmol/L by prior fasting. In this study we determined whether this process is related to fasting or to hyperketonemia itself. Eight normal postabsorptive subjects were rendered artificially hyperketonemic (approximately 6 mmol/L) by a constant infusion of acetoacetate and exercised moderately for 2 h. The kinetics of ketone bodies were determined with [14C]acetoacetate or beta-[14C]hydroxybutyrate. The metabolic clearance was slightly increased (approximately 25%) at the beginning of exercise, but this phenomenon was subsequently amplified by the progressive fall in ketonemia, which decreased to about 4 mmol/L at the end of exercise. Taking into account the fact that the metabolic clearance of ketones is inversely related to their concentration, it could be estimated that the direct effect of exercise on the metabolic clearance is negligible. Thus, the inability of exercise to enhance the metabolic clearance of ketones at high physiological plasma ketone levels is a general phenomenon that applies to both endogenous and exogenous ketosis.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Metabolic organization and effects of feeding on enzyme activities of the dogfish shark (Squalus acanthias) rectal gland.

In order to investigate the metabolic poise of the elasmobranch rectal gland, we conducted two lines of experimentation. First, we examined the effects of feeding on plasma metabolites and enzyme activities from several metabolic pathways in several tissues of the dogfish shark, Squalus acanthias, after starvation and at 6, 20, 30 and 48 h post-feeding. We found a rapid and sustained ten-fold decrease in plasma beta-hydroxybutyrate at 6 h and beyond compared with starved dogfish, suggesting an upregulation in the use of this substrate, a decrease in production, or both. Plasma acetoacetate levels remain unchanged, whereas there was a slight and transient decrease in plasma glucose levels at 6 h. Several enzymes showed a large increase in activity post-feeding, including beta-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase in rectal gland and liver, and in rectal gland, isocitrate dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate amino transferase, alanine amino transferase, glutamine synthetase and Na(+)/K(+) ATPase. Also notable in these enzyme measurements was the overall high level of activity in the rectal gland in general. For example, activity of the Krebs' TCA cycle enzyme citrate synthase (over 30 U g(-1)) was similar to activities in muscle from other species of highly active fish. Surprisingly, lactate dehydrogenase activity in the gland was also high (over 150 U g(-1)), suggesting either an ability to produce lactate anaerobically or use lactate as an aerobic fuel. Given these interesting observations, in the second aspect of the study we examined the ability of several metabolic substrates (alone and in combination) to support chloride secretion by the rectal gland. Among the substrates tested at physiological concentrations (glucose, beta-hydroxybutyrate, lactate, alanine, acetoacetate, and glutamate), only glucose could consistently maintain a viable preparation. Whereas beta-hydroxybutyrate could enhance gland activity when presented in combination with glucose, surprisingly it could not sustain chloride secretion when used as a lone substrate. Our results are discussed in the context of the in vivo role of the gland and mechanisms of possible upregulation of enzyme activities.

Animals↗

PubMed1999

Effects of development on acetoacetyl-CoA synthetase biosynthesis in rat liver.

In order to investigate the physiological role of acetoacetyl-CoA synthetase (acetoacetate-CoA ligase, EC 6.2.1.16), a cytosolic acetoacetate-activating enzyme, the effects of animal development on the activity and content of the enzyme were examined in rat liver. In male rats, the enzyme specific activity increased 21-fold at 4 weeks of age from that at 2 weeks of age, and then gradually decreased, while in female rats, it increased similarly to that of male rats, but further increased, reaching a maximum about 3-fold higher than that of male rats, at 6 weeks of age. The developmental patterns of the enzyme content correlated with that of the enzyme specific activity. These results indicate that changes in this enzyme activity and content during the developmental process might influence the rate of ketone body utilization for the formation of physiologically important lipidic substances in rat liver.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Spectrophotometric and fluorimetric determination of hexamine in pure form and its pharmaceutical formulation.

Ethyl acetoacetate and methyl acetoacetate have been tested for the determination of hiprex (methenamine hippurate). Both the esters react with hexamine and hiprex forming fluorescent yellow Hantzsch esters. The products show absorption maximum at 370 nm and a fluorescence emission maximum at 465 nm in aqueous n-propanol. Important parameters such as pH, temperature, mole ratio and time of reaction have been optimized. The co-efficient of variation for inter and intra-day precisions were less than 1%. The chromogens show linearity in the concentration ranges of 2.0-35.0 microg x ml(-1) and 0.6-40.0 micro-1) for the spectrometric and fluorimetric determinations of hiprex, respectively.

Ascorbic Acid↗