Abstract
Summary
Two-dimensional paper chro-matographic methods were employed to study the changes produced in amino acid distribution in tissues of mice treated with hydrazine and in mice which had been pretreated with protective substances prior to the administration of hydrazine. The data indicate that the time of occurrence of the symptoms of acute hydrazine poisoning (tonic-clonic convulsions) coincided with significant changes in free amino acid distribution in liver but not with any major effects in brain. In all animals which had been injected with hydrazine increases in citrulline content were observed in liver, but not in other tissues or urine. When injection of arginine alone or arginine together with other substances was followed by hydrazine, remarkable increases in liver citrulline levels were found. There was no indication of the accumulation of argininosuccinic acid. The data suggested that in livers of hydrazine-poisoned animals the condensation reaction of citrulline with aspartic acid to give argininosuccinic acid might become rate-limiting in the operation of the ornithine cycle and that the function of several other amino-acid metabolizing systems also might be disturbed. It is not yet clear whether or not any relationship exists between metabolic changes in liver and the often-fatal convulsions. Incidental observations also suggested the possibility that hydrazine might have effects on capillary fragility and permeability.
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