Effects of chronic uraemia on the formation of glucose and urea plus ammonia from l-alanine, l-glutamine and l-serine in isolated rat hepatocytes

1986 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 627-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita A. Klim ◽  
Marta Albajar ◽  
Reginald Hems ◽  
Dermot H. Williamson

1. The effects of chronic uraemia on glucose production and nitrogen release (urea plus ammonia formation) from alanine, glutamine or serine in isolated rat hepatocytes were studied. 2. Uraemia increased the rate of formation of urea plus ammonia from all three amino acids by 38-93% when they were present at a final concentration of 10 mmol/l. At lower concentrations (2 mmol/l) the rate of nitrogen release was not significantly increased. 3. Hepatocytes from normal rats whose food intake had been restricted to the level of that of uraemic rats did not show the increased rates of nitrogen release. 4. The increased rates of nitrogen release with hepatocytes from uraemic rats were not accompanied by increased rates of glucose synthesis. Instead, accumulation of metabolic intermediates occurred: lactate and pyruvate (alanine or serine as substrates) and glutamate (glutamine as substrate). 5. Livers of uraemic rats had increased activities of glutarninase (30%) and serine dehydratase (100%). 6. Hepatocytes from normal rats treated with phlorhizin to increase the plasma glucagon/insulin ratio behaved in a similar manner to hepatocytes from uraemic rats. They had increased serine dehydratase activity, and increased rates of utilization of serine or glutamine. 7. The possible implications of these findings for human uraemia are discussed.

1984 ◽  
Vol 218 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Hue ◽  
R Bartrons

Hepatocytes from overnight-starved rats were incubated with 1-20 mM-fructose, -dihydroxyacetone, -glycerol, -alanine or -lactate and -pyruvate with or without 0.1 microM-glucagon. The production of glucose and lactate was measured, as was the content of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate. The concentrations of fructose (below 5 mM) and dihydroxyacetone (above 1 mM) that gave rise to an increase in fructose 2,6-bisphosphate were those at which a glucagon effect on the production of glucose and lactate could be observed. Glycerol had no effect on fructose 2,6-bisphosphate content or on production of lactate, and glucagon did not stimulate the production of glucose from this precursor. With alanine or lactate/pyruvate as substrates, glucagon stimulated glucose production whether the concentration of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate was increased or not. The extent of inactivation of pyruvate kinase by glucagon was not affected by the presence of the various gluconeogenic precursors. The role of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate in the effect of glucagon on gluconeogenesis from precursors entering the pathway at the level of triose phosphates or pyruvate is discussed.


1989 ◽  
Vol 258 (3) ◽  
pp. 889-894 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Mine ◽  
I Kojima ◽  
E Ogata

The synthetic 1-34 fragment of human parathyroid hormone (1-34hPTH) stimulated glucose production in isolated rat hepatocytes. The effect of 1-34hPTH was dose-dependent and 10(10) M-1-34 hPTH elicited the maximum glucose output, which was approx. 80% of that by glucagon. Although 1-34hPTH induced a small increase in cyclic AMP production at concentrations higher than 10(-9) M, 10(-10) M-1-34hPTH induced the maximum glucose output without significant elevation of cyclic AMP. This is in contrast to the action of forskolin, which increased glucose output to the same extent as 10(-10) M-1-34hPTH by causing a 2-fold elevation of cyclic AMP. In addition to increasing cyclic AMP, 1-34hPTH caused an increase in cytoplasmic free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]c). When the effect of 1-34hPTH on [Ca2+]c was studied in aequorin-loaded cells, low concentrations of 1-34hPTH increased [Ca2+]c: the 1-34hPTH effect on [Ca2+]c was detected at as low as 10(-12) M and increased in a dose-dependent manner. 1-34hPTH increased [Ca2+]c even in the presence of 1 microM extracellular calcium, suggesting that PTH mobilizes calcium from an intracellular pool. In line with these observations, 1-34hPTH increased the production of inositol trisphosphate. These results suggest that: (1) PTH activates both cyclic AMP and calcium messenger systems and (2) PTH stimulates glycogenolysis mainly via the calcium messenger system.


1984 ◽  
Vol 224 (1) ◽  
pp. 263-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
F X Coudé ◽  
G Grimber ◽  
P Parvy ◽  
D Rabier ◽  
J Bardet

The metabolic effects of pent-4-enoate were studied in isolated rat hepatocytes; 1 mM-pent-4-enoate did not significantly inhibit gluconeogenesis from lactate, alanine and glycerol, but significantly decreased glucose synthesis from pyruvate. The addition of 1 mM-NH4Cl led to a drastic inhibition of glucose synthesis from all these substrates. In hepatocytes incubated with 10 mM-alanine and 1 mM-oleate, pent-4-enoate at 0.05-1 mM slightly inhibited glucose synthesis and ketogenesis. The addition of ammonia resulted in a dramatic potentiation of the metabolic effects of pent-4-enoate. Half-maximum effect of ammonia was observed at 0.2 mM concentration. Concomitant cellular concentrations of ATP and acetyl-CoA were also decreased by the addition of ammonia, as were lactate/pyruvate ratio and beta-hydroxybutyrate/acetoacetate ratio. These data suggest that ammonia seriously interferes with the cellular metabolism of pent-4-enoate and leads to a dramatic potentiation of its effects.


1978 ◽  
Vol 176 (3) ◽  
pp. 817-825 ◽  
Author(s):  
S A Smith ◽  
K R F Elliott ◽  
C I Pogson

1. Tryptophan inhibition of gluconeogenesis in isolated rat liver cells is characterized by a 20 min lag period before linear rates of glucose output are attained. 2. Half-maximal inhibition of gluconeogenesis in isolated rat hepatocytes is produced by approx. 0.1 mM-tryptophan. 3. Tryptophan inhibits gluconeogenesis from all substrates giving rise to oxaloacetate, but stimulates glycerol-fuelled glucose production. 4. Gluconeogenesis in guinea-pig hepatocytes is insensitive to tryptophan. 5. Changes in metabolite concentrations in rat liver cells are consistent with a locus of inhibition at the step catalysed by phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. 6. Inhibition of gluconeogenesis persists in cells from rats pretreated with tryptophan in vivo. 7. Tryptophan has no effect on urea production from alanine, but decreases [1-14C]palmitate oxidation to 14CO2 and is associated with an increased [hydroxybutyrate]/[acetoacetate] ratio. 8. These results are discussed with reference to the control of gluconeogenesis in various species.


Endocrinology ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
pp. 586-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
TETSUYA MINE ◽  
ITARU KOJIMA ◽  
ETSURO OGATA

1991 ◽  
Vol 261 (6) ◽  
pp. R1522-R1526 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Asensi ◽  
A. Lopez-Rodas ◽  
J. Sastre ◽  
J. Vina ◽  
J. M. Estrela

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of externally added ATP on gluconeogenesis by isolated hepatocytes from starved rats. High concentrations of extracellular ATP inhibited gluconeogenesis from lactate and pyruvate but not from glycerol or fructose. This inhibition was associated with an increase in intracellular adenosine contents. ADP, AMP, or adenosine but not guanosine 5'triphosphate, inosine 5' triphosphate, or adenine also inhibited gluconeogenesis. alpha, beta-Methylene-ATP, a nonmetabolizable structural analogue of ATP, did not affect the rate of gluconeogenesis. Intracellular ATP levels were increased by externally added ATP or adenosine, but ATP-to-ADP ratios in the cytosolic and mitochondrial compartments were diminished. Malate and phosphoenolpyruvate contents were decreased by extracellular ATP or adenosine. Our results show that inhibition of gluconeogenesis by high levels of extracellular ATP may be mediated by adenosine derived from ATP catabolism at the plasma membrane.


1984 ◽  
Vol 67 (s9) ◽  
pp. 15P-16P
Author(s):  
J.P. Monson ◽  
H.K. Metcalfe ◽  
P.J. Drew ◽  
R.A. Iles ◽  
N.D. Carter ◽  
...  

1990 ◽  
Vol 111 (3) ◽  
pp. 941-953 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Kopitz ◽  
G O Kisen ◽  
P B Gordon ◽  
P Bohley ◽  
P O Seglen

Seven cytosolic enzymes with varying half-lives (ornithine decarboxylase, 0.9 h; tyrosine aminotransferase, 3.1 h; tryptophan oxygenase, 3.3 h; serine dehydratase, 10.3 h; glucokinase, 12.7 h; lactate dehydrogenase, 17.0 h; aldolase, 17.4 h) were found to be autophagically sequestered at the same rate (3.5%/h) in isolated rat hepatocytes. Autophagy was measured as the accumulation of enzyme activity in the sedimentable organelles (mostly lysosomes) of electrodisrupted cells in the presence of the proteinase inhibitor leupeptin. Inhibitors of lysosomal fusion processes (vinblastine and asparagine) allowed accumulation of catalytically active enzyme (in prelysosomal vacuoles) even in the absence of proteolytic inhibition, showing that no inactivation step took place before lysosomal proteolysis. The completeness of protection by leupeptin indicates, furthermore, that a lysosomal cysteine proteinase is obligatorily required for the initial proteolytic attack upon autophagocytosed proteins. The experiments suggest that sequestration and degradation of normal cytosolic proteins by the autophagic-lysosomal pathway is a nonselective bulk process, and that nonautophagic mechanisms must be invoked to account for differential enzyme turnover.


1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 1868-1872 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. L. Klempa ◽  
W. T. Willis ◽  
R. Chengson ◽  
P. R. Dallman ◽  
G. A. Brooks

Dietary iron deficiency in rats results in increased blood glucose turnover and recycling. We measured the rates of glucose production in isolated hepatocytes from iron-sufficient (Fe+) and iron-deficient (Fe-) rats to assess the intrinsic capacity of the Fe- liver to carry out gluconeogenesis. Low-iron and control diets were given to 21-day-old female rats. After 4-5 wk, hemoglobin concentrations averaged 4.1 g/dl in the Fe- and 14.3 g/dl in the Fe+ animals. In the hepatocytes from Fe- rats, there was a 35% decrease in the rate of glucose production from 1 mM pyruvate + 10 mM lactate, a 48% decrease from 0.1 mM pyruvate + 1 mM lactate, a 39% decrease from 1 mM alanine, and a 48% decrease from 1 mM glycerol. The addition of 5 microM norepinephrine or 0.5 microM glucagon to the incubation media produced stimulatory effects on hepatocytes from both Fe- and Fe+ rats, resulting in the maintenance of an average difference of 38% in the rates of gluconeogenesis between the two groups. Studies on isolated liver mitochondria and cytosol revealed alpha-glycerophosphate-cytochrome c reductase and phospho(enol)pyruvate carboxykinase activities to be decreased by 27% in Fe- rats. We conclude that because severe dietary iron deficiency decreases gluconeogenesis in isolated rat hepatocytes, the increased gluconeogenesis demonstrated by Fe- rats in vivo is attributable to increased availability of gluconeogenic substrates and upregulation of the pathway.


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