Distribution of pteroylglutamates in rat liver during regeneration after partial hepatectomy

1. Liver pteroylpolyglutamate distribution was studied during regeneration after partial hepatectomy in rats maintained under controlled feeding conditions. 2. Pteroylhexaglutamate, pteroylpentaglutamate and pteroyltetraglutamate concentrations decrease from 12 to 72 h after operation, then increase and reach normal values at 180 h. Pteroyltriglutamate concentration, already high at 12 h, remains so in the subsequent periods. Pteroyldiglutamate concentration was unchanged. Monoglutamate concentrations at first decrease, and at 180 h exceed normal values. 3. The decrease in polyglutamate derivatives with a high number of glutamate residues, at present considered to be the coenzyme forms of folate, could be related not to a decreased synthesis, but to a greater requirement for these compounds during the early periods of regeneration, when biosynthetic processes are markedly increased. It is indeed probable that the increased availability of the preferred substrate of pteroylpolyglutamate synthetase, i.e. tetrahydrofolate, enhances conversion of folate into coenzyme forms.