-
When is amino acid catabolism active?
Fed and fasted states
-
What does amino acid catabolism do in the absoptive phase?
Excess dietary amino acids are catabolized for amino acid homeostasis and energy production in the liver
-
What is amino acid catabolism do in the posabsorptive phase?
Amino acids are catabolized and feed into gluconeogenesis and ketogenesis
-
Where does amino acid catabolism take place?
in the liver (except for BCAA and glutamine)
-
What is the role of pyridoxal phosphate (vitamin B6) in amino acid catabolism?
- Present at the catalytic site of all aminotransferases
- temporarily holds the amino group as it is transfered from amino acid to alpha ketoglutarate
-
What amino acid is the major precursor to pyruvate?
Which enzyme catalyzes the reaction?
- Alanine
- Alanine aminotransferase (ALT)
-
Which amino acid uses glutamate and oxaloacetate (OAA) as precursors?
What enzyme catalyzes the reaction?
- Aspartate
- Aspartate amino transferase (ALT)
-
Where in the body are aminotransferases found?
liver, kidney, intestine, muscle
-
Elevated levels of which aminotransferases indicates cell damage?
AST and ALT
-
Which aminotransferase is elevated in myocardial infarction?
AST
-
What is the primary source of ammonia?
glutamate dehydrogenase (oxidative deamination)
-
What is the secondary sources (4) of ammonia?
- Degredation of purine and pyrimidine nucleotides
- Glutamine metabolised by the GI tract
- Glutamine metabolised by kidney
- Urea degraded by bacteria
-
What is a second means (besides the creation of urea) to decrease blood ammonia?
Hepatic glutamine synthesis
-
What four ways is the urea cycle regulated?
- Compartmentalization (CPSI is in mitochondria, CPSII is in cytosol)
- Substrate availability (increase in ammonia-->increase in CPSI)
- Allosteric effectors (increase in protons (acidosis)-->decrease CPSI, increase in N-acetylglutamate-->activates CPSI)
- Gene expression (quantity of dietary protein, glucagon, insuslin, cortisol)
-
How does hepatic cirrhosis lead to hyperammonemia?
hepatocytes are replaced with fibroblasts which lack urea cycle and glutamine synthesis resulting in higher ammonia levels
-
How does portal hypertension lead to hyperammonemia?
prevents portal blood from easily entering the liver which leads to the formation of collateral circulation shunting of ammonia rich portal blood away from the liver and into systemic circulation
-
What symptoms does hyperammonemia result in?
tremors, slurring of speech, blurry vision, cerebral edema, coma
-
Does ammonia cross the blood brain barrier BBB?
Yes! it readily crosses the blood brain barrier
-
What are the dangers of ammonia in the brain (increased synthesis of gutamate and glutamine)?
- Glutamate is a neurotransmitter and can activate N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors which may trigger the events of ammonia toxicity
- Increased glutamine is trapped in the brain leading to cerebral edema
|
|
