Thymidine metabolism in regenerating rat liver one to two hours after partial hepatectomy
1. When [3H]thymidine was injected intravenously into rats in amounts up to 40mg/kg body wt. and the3H radioactivity in the livers measured at 30min, saturation kinetics for thymidine uptake were not found. If the animals were examined 3 min after intravenous injection, saturation could be attained in normal rats with 12mg of thymidine/kg and in partially hepatectomized rats with 4mg/kg. At concentrations of thymidine close to saturation, no differences were found in rate or amount of uptake/g of liver between normal and partially hepatectomized rats 1–2h after operation. 2. Perfusion techniques were used to compare thymidine uptakes in the two sets of rats at concentrations up to 40μm-thymidine. Uptakes with tracer amounts of thymidine after 30min were identical in vivo and in the perfusion studies and were twice as great in livers from partially hepatectomized rats with concentrations up to 40μm-thymidine. 3. At 1.5h after operation there was nearly twice as much β-aminoisobutyrate present per g of liver from partially hepatectomized as compared with normal rats.