Effect of Limitation of Protein Intake on Hepatic Uricase and on Urinary Uric Acid and Allantoic. ∗

Abstract

Summary

Allantoin and uric acid have been determined in the urines of rats fed a protein-free and 18% casein diet. The animals on the casein diet consisted of a group pair-fed with the animals on the protein-free diet and a group fed ad libitum. The low uri-case activity in the livers of the rats on the protein-free diet was not accompanied by an increase in the uric acid-allantoin ratio in the urine. Thus in the rat it is not possible to predict the in vivo uricase level from the uric acid-allantoin ratio in the urine. However, there is a correlation between the allantoin or the uric acid content of the urine and the uricase content of the liver. Whether there is a relationship between these factors can not be answered at this time.