Intermediate products of purine metabolism in an experimental model of pancreatic necrosis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Determine the level of purines in the blood plasma of experimental animals at three stages of induced pancreatic necrosis. Find out the potential of purines as predictors of the severity of pancreatitis. METHODS: The experiment was carried out on white outbred rabbits. The pancreatic necrosis was modeled by introducing self-bile into the pancreatic parenchyma. The pancreas of rabbits, after isolation, was subjected to microscopic description. Blood was also taken from rabbits to determine the plasma levels of adenine, guanine, hypoxanthine, xanthine, and uric acid. RESULTS: 12 hours after the administration of self-bile, the level of xanthine significantly increases and the concentration of uric acid in the blood plasma increases by 3 times. 24 hours after the introduction of self-bile, there is a slight decrease in the level of adenine, xanthine and uric acid, and the indicators of purine metabolism remain elevated. 48 hours after the introduction of self-bile, the levels of guanine, hypoxanthine and xanthine are reduced. CONCLUSIONS: The concentration indices of absolute and relative intermediate products of purine metabolism were increased at the initial stage of pancreatic necrosis. The activity of enzymes and metabolites of purine metabolism involved in the formation of reactive oxygen species and free radicals increased. The hypothesis that intermediate products of purine metabolism can be predictors of pancreatic necrosis was confirmed.

The Oxidized proteins and activity of the Cl-/HCО3- exchanger in erythrocytes of patients with acute alcohol intoxication.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this research was to study the morphological properties and the products of oxidative protein modification in erythrocytes of patients with acute alcohol intoxication. Two groups of subjects were analyzed. The first one included 39 patients with acute alcohol intoxication. The second group consisted of 14 healthy subjects. METHODS: In erythrocytes the activity of Cl-/HCО3- exchanger, the reactive protein carbonyl derivatives and membrane-bound hemoglobin concentration were measured. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated strong alteration of the Cl-/HCО3- exchanger activity in erythrocytes of patients with acute alcohol intoxication. A delay in the beginning of hemolysis during incubation of erythrocytes in the ammonium medium was observed. The concentration of protein carbonyls in erythrocytes of patients significantly increased in comparison to the control ones. A decrease in the membrane-bounded hemoglobin was observed as well. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that ethanol toxicity is manifested by alteration of oxidized protein concentration and Cl-/HCО3- exchanger activity in erythrocytes. It is hypothesized that oxidized proteins are implicated in modulation of the erythrocyte cell volume regulation.