[Study of the determination of urea and citrulline in protein-containing media. Manual and automatic diacetylmonoxime method]

Almost all about citrulline in mammals

Citrulline (Cit, C6H13N3O3), which is a ubiquitous amino acid in mammals, is strongly related to arginine. Citrulline metabolism in mammals is divided into two fields: free citrulline and citrullinated proteins. Free citrulline metabolism involves three key enzymes: NO synthase (NOS) and ornithine carbamoyltransferase (OCT) which produce citrulline, and argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS) that converts it into argininosuccinate. The tissue distribution of these enzymes distinguishes three "orthogonal" metabolic pathways for citrulline. Firstly, in the liver, citrulline is locally synthesized by OCT and metabolized by ASS for urea production. Secondly, in most of the tissues producing NO, citrulline is recycled into arginine via ASS to increase arginine availability for NO production. Thirdly, citrulline is synthesized in the gut from glutamine (with OCT), released into the blood and converted back into arginine in the kidneys (by ASS); in this pathway, circulating citrulline is in fact a masked form of arginine to avoid liver captation. Each of these pathways has related pathologies and, even more interestingly, citrulline could potentially be used to monitor or treat some of these pathologies. Citrulline has long been administered in the treatment of inherited urea cycle disorders, and recent studies suggest that citrulline may be used to control the production of NO. Recently, citrulline was demonstrated as a potentially useful marker of short bowel function in a wide range of pathologies. One of the most promising research directions deals with the administration of citrulline as a more efficient alternative to arginine, especially against underlying splanchnic sequestration of amino acids. Protein citrullination results from post-translational modification of arginine; that occurs mainly in keratinization-related proteins and myelins, and insufficiencies in this citrullination occur in some auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis or multiple sclerosis.

Oxidative denitrification of the antitumour drug hydroxyguanidine

The oxidative denitrification of the antitumour agent hydroxyguanidine (HOG) has been investigated by radiolysis methods and EPR spectroscopy. The azide radical (N3.), a model one-electron oxidant, reacts with HOG with the rate constant 5.1 x 10(9) dm3 mol(-1) s(-1) to yield the guanidino carbon-centred radical (HOG.) which rapidly eliminates nitric oxide (k = 3.1 x 10[3] s[-1]) with the concomitant formation of urea. The HOG. undergoes conjugation with molecular oxygen to form a peroxyl radical (HOGOO.) with a rate constant 8.8 x 10(8) dm3 mol(-1) s(-1). The HOGOO. radical also eliminates nitric oxide but may act as a precursor to the peroxynitrite (ONOO-) ion. The oxidation of HOG by the dibromide radical (Br2.-) was found to release nitric oxide with a yield of 95% relative to Br2.- as determined from the combined yields of inorganic nitrite, nitrate and a HOG/nitric oxide-adduct. This study provides a possible mechanistic basis for the oxidative denitrification of HOG which may contribute to the observed toxicity of the drug both in vitro and in vivo and for the oxidation of nonphysiological hydroxyguanidines to NO. via nitric oxide synthase-independent pathways.

The diacetylmonoxime assay of urea, its application to the assay of diacetylmonoxime and a comparison with other methods for the analysis of diacetylmonoxime

The experiments reported herein were designed to identify the best assay of diacetylmonoxime (DAM) in biological fluids, with particular emphasis on detection limits. Initially, four variations of the assay of urea with excess DAM were compared. The best method, published in 1977, was one that includes thiosemicarbazide, 4-aminoantipyrine and ceric ammonium sulphate in the acid reagent; it is fast, gives a reasonably stable chromophore and displays good linearity. However, the reaction was two or more times less sensitive when applied to the assay of DAM, with urea in excess, by interchanging the amounts of urea and DAM. Further, the calibration graphs did not pass through the origin, and one of the methods gave a mixture of two chromophores. None approached the sensitivity of a DAM-urea reaction specifically designed to assay biacetyl (formed from DAM by acid hydrolysis) and published in 1968. This method, using antipyrine and arsenicosulphuric acid, is also fast, with good linearity and a stable chromophore, but is sensitive to interference by plasma and urine. An alternative photometric assay that does not involve urea was equally sensitive. It had the advantage of less interference by plasma and urine but was more time-consuming. Both of these photometric methods had a limit of detection of ca. 0.2 microgram DAM, similar to that of a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay. Sample clean-up is necessary before application of the HPLC assay.

Improvements in the determination of urea using diacetyl monoxime; methods with and without deproteinisation

A rapid and reproducible method is described for measurement of urea in biological materials (after deproteinisation) and in serum (without deproteinisation). Urea is colorimetrically determined with diacetyl monoxime and thiosemicarbazide in the presence of sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid and ferric chloride. The sensitivity of the colorimetric reaction and stability of the colour are enhanced over existing related procedures and the serum blank diminished, enabling urea to be precisely measured in micro amounts (1--5 microliters) of serum.

Brain serotonin turnover in chronically uremic rats

Brain serotonin turnover was investigated in chronically uremic and sham-operated pair-fed control rats. Animals were injected ip with 100 mg/kg body wt of pargyline HCl, a nonreversible monoamine oxidase inhibitor, and decapitated 0, 30 and 60 min later. The level of total tryptophan in plasma was decreased, and that of free tryptophan was increased in the uremic group. Uremic and control rats had similar concentrations of tryptophan and serotonin at 0 and 30 min after pargyline administration. However, the brain serotonin concentration was elevated in the uremic group 60 min after pargyline treatment. The brain serotonin turnover rate was higher and serotonin turnover time was lower in the uremic group. These results indicate that uremic stress, in addition to altering plasma tryptophan levels, also affects brain serotonin turnover.

A direct method for the estimation of ornithine carbamoyltransferase activity in serum

Ornithine carbamoyltransferase (EC 2.1.3.3) activity was estimated by determining the amount of citrulline produced. The citrulline was colorimetrically measured by using a diacetylmonoxime-thiosemicarbazide reaction without deproteinization. The color complex which had the maximum absorbance at 515 nm was stable at room temperature in daylight for at least several hours. The proposed method was superior to other methods already reported in sensitivity, stability and simplicity.

Biologic effects of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (a highly active vitamin D metabolite) in acutely uremic rats

The development of a vitamin D-resistant state in the course of renal failure may be responsible for reduced intestinal absorption of calcium and an impaired response of skeletal tissue. Moreover, the kidney has been shown to carry out the conversion of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25-OH-CC) to a highly biologically active metabolite, 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (1,25-diOH-CC). In the present studies, vitamin D-deficient rats, made acutely uremic by either bilateral nephrectomy or urethral ligation, received physiological doses of cholecalciferol (vitamin D(3)) (CC), 25-OH-CC or 1,25-diOH-CC; 24 hr later intestinal calcium transport, in vitro, and bone calcium mobilization, in vivo, were assessed. Whereas CC and 25-OH-CC stimulated calcium transport in sham-operated controls, they were without effect in the uremic animals. In contrast, administration of 1,25-diOH-CC stimulated calcium transport in both groups of uremic animals. Administration of 1,25-diOH-CC also stimulated calcium mobilization from bone in each group of animals. However, CC and 25-OH-CC were only effective in the sham controls and the uremic group produced by urethral ligation and had little or no effect in animals without kidneys. These results indicate that renal conversion of calciferol to a more biologically active form is necessary for the stimulation of intestinal calcium absorption and calcium mobilization from bone, and that 1,25-diOH-CC may bypass a possible defect in vitamin D metabolism in uremia. From these studies it is likely that uremia, per se, may also impair intestinal calcium transport.