UNLABELLED We have developed a new imaging method to evaluate the blood perfusion and ammonia metabolism of the pituitary gland, and we preliminarily assessed its role in the diagnosis of hypopituitarism. METHODS Six female healthy volunteers (age range, 20-46 y) and 6 female patients (age range, 23-42 y) were enrolled in this study. Dynamic (13)N-NH(3) PET was performed. Time-activity curves...

This study aimed to determine the role of mitofusin 2 (MFN2) gene polymorphisms in the risk and prognosis of acute liver failure (ALF). A total of 298 blood samples were collected from 138 ALF patients (case group) and 160 healthy participants (control group). Coagulation function, glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), total bilirubin (TB), blood ammonia ...

A significant increase in blood urea was found in 11 U.S. Navy divers during 8 d of air saturation hyperbaric exposure. Similar increases in blood urea have been found in animals that convulsed during hyperbaric oxygen exposure. Therefore, it is suggested that careful attention be given to blood ammonia and urea levels in humans during long-term hyperbaric exposure.

RATIONALE Impaired skeletal muscle function contributes to exercise limitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This is characterized by reduced mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate generation, and greater reliance on nonmitochondrial energy production. Dichloroacetate (DCA) infusion activates muscle pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) at rest, reducing inertia in...

We investigated the movement of N-labeled ammonia from blood to brain, in vivo, in adult rhesus monkeys. For this purpose, we monitored the behavior of the tracer by using external detection of the 511-keV annihilation-radiation photons of nitrogen-13 following rapid bolus injection into the internal carotid artery. Our data reveal a diffusion limitation for the transport of ammonia from blood ...

BACKGROUND Regional myocardial blood flow has been quantified using transaxial positron emission tomographic (PET) imaging and tracer kinetic modeling. However, the use of transaxial images limits the accuracy of regional partial volume corrections and the localization of the quantified regional flow values. The purpose of the present study was to overcome both problems by calculating regional ...

Investigations using ammonium citrate-(15)N and urea-(15)N showed that children in the acute stage of kwashiorkor and marasmus receiving a diet of adequate protein content retained a considerable percentage of the label from both compounds. Excretion of both total (15)N and urea-(15)N was subnormal and elimination was virtually completed 36 hr after administration of the isotope. During recover...

We investigated the influence on mitochondrial functions in carnitine deficiency caused by short-term treatment of cefteram-pivoxil (CFTM-PI) which is one of pivaloyloxymethyl-esterified antibiotics in adult volunteers and diseased children. Administration of CFTM-PI caused hypocarnitinemia in all cases, and we observed a significant elevation of blood ammonia levels compared with those after i...

BACKGROUND/AIMS It has been proposed that, in acute liver failure, skeletal muscle adapts to become the principle organ responsible for removal of blood-borne ammonia by increasing glutamine synthesis, a reaction that is catalyzed by the cytosolic ATP-dependent enzyme glutamine synthetase. To address this issue, glutamine synthetase expression and activities were measured in skeletal muscle of ...