Changes in renal vein, renal surface, and urine oxygen tension during hypoxia in pigs.

To determine whether ureteral urine oxygen tension could serve as a monitor of renal hypoxia and its relationship to other renal O2 tension parameters, we simultaneously measured femoral artery (PaO2), renal vein (PrvO2), renal surface (PrsO2), and ureteral urine (PuO2) oxygen tensions in 8 anesthetized pigs while incrementally decreasing the inspired oxygen concentration (FiO2) from 21% to 12%. Renal artery blood flow, measured by transit time ultrasound, renal oxygen consumption, and thermodilution cardiac output, was constant. Changes in PaO2, PrvO2, PrsO2, and PuO2 caused by decreasing FiO2 were evaluated by one-way analysis of variance. The relationships between PuO2 and the other O2 tension parameters were evaluated by correlation coefficient and linear regression statistics. Of six possible O2 decrements (combinations of 3, 6, and 9%), only PrvO2 significantly decreased with all six decrements. PuO2 decreased when FiO2 decreased 6% or more. PuO2 is not a sensitive indicator of systemic hypoxia. Under constant renal perfusion and oxygen consumption, PuO2 had a correlation coefficient of 0.80 and a regression equation of PuO2 = 0.84 (PrvO2) + 11.6, with PrvO2. PuO2 is related to PrvO2 when renal perfusion is constant.

Exogenous Valine Reduces Conversion of Leucine to 3-Methyl-1-Butanol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Mutant strains of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae that require branched-chain amino acids must be supplemented with large concentrations (up to 10 mM) of these amino acids to satisfy their nutritional requirement. The utilization of one branched-chain amino acid, leucine, was examined in several leul strains of yeast grown aerobically in a glucose-ammonium salts minimal medium containing a limiting concentration (0.2 mM) of leucine. In this medium, the leucine requirement of the auxotrophic strains could be reduced by valine, another branched-chain amino acid. Increasing the valine concentration increased the cell yields of cultures and also reduced the levels of 3-methyl-1-butanol detected in the medium by gas chromatography. The concentration of 3-methyl-1-butanol was reduced from 122.0 to 48.9 muM when 5.0 mM valine was supplemented to limiting-leucine cultures. The amino acids isoleucine, threonine, norleucine, norvaline, alpha-amino-butyrate, alanine, and glycine also spared the leucine requirement of leucine auxotrophs, most likely because they resembled leucine and competed for its uptake. We propose that leucine analogs restrict the entry and degradation of leucine and thus reduce its conversion to 3-methyl-1-butanol, a major component of fusel oil.