[Glutamate metabolism in cerebral cortex obtained from chronic hepatic failure rats]

The present investigation was carried out in order to elucidate the amino acid metabolism in hepatic failure with particular emphasis placed on glutamate. For this purpose, chronic hepatic failure models were produced in adult male Wistar rats by successive carbontetrachloride injection (0.20 ml/100 g. B. W., twice/week) for 13 weeks. They were confirmed to develop chemical changes compartible with hepatic failure, showing markedly elevated serum levels of NH3, GOT and ALP. Animals were killed by decapitation during fasting and the brains were removed immediately. After the parietal cortical slices were incubated for 45 min at 37 degrees C together with L-(U-14C) glutamate in O2-saturated Gey's balanced salt solution, they were homogenized in 75% ethanol and deproteinized with water saturated chloroform. The radioactivities of liberated CO2, glutamate and its metabolites (glutamine, aspartate and GABA) obtained from the slices were measured. The amount of radioactivity recovered from CO2, glutamine and aspartate revealed a significant increase (p less than 0.001), while that of glutamate and GABA remained unchanged. The main source of the CO2 is believed to originate from TCA cycle rather than the decarboxylation of glutamate to form GABA, and glutamate forms glutamine when it fixes ammonia. Furthermore, glutamate is converted into aspartate via TCA cycle when the carbon was labeled. Therefore, the results indicate that in chronic hepatic failure brains glutamate metabolism is enhanced through TCA cycle as well as ammonia fixation mechanism.