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Biomedical subjects

R H Herman

Publications and source records attributed to R H Herman.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Acute effects of oral and intravenous ethanol on rat hepatic enzyme activities.

1. Oral administration of ethanol (3 ml) of 95% in 12 ml total volume over a two day period) significantly decrease plasma glucose and insulin levels and the activities of two key gluconeogenic enzymes, pyruvate carboxylase (pyruvate: CO2 ligase (ADP), EC 6.4.1.1) and fructose diphosphatase, (D-Fru-1,6-P2 1-phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.11), and one glycolytic enzyme, fructose-1,6-P2 aldolase (Fru-1,6-P2 D-glyceraldehyde-3-P lyase, EC 4.1.2.13). In each instance, the administration of 2400 mug daily of oral folate in conjuction with the ethanol prevented these alterations in carbohydrate metabolism. 2. Intravenous injection of ethanol produced a rapid decrease (within 10--15 min) in the activities of hepatic phosphofructokinase, (ATP:D-fructose-6-phosphate 6-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.11), pyruvate kinase, (ATP:pyruvate phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.40), fructose diphosphatase and fructose-1,6-P2 aldolase. 3. Intravenous ethanol significantly increased hepatic cyclic AMP concentration approximately 60% within 10 min, while oral ethanol did not alter hepatic cyclic AMP concentrations. 4. These data confirm the known antagonism ethanol and folate and suggest that oral folate might offer a protective effect against hypoglycemia in rats receiving ethanol.

Administration, Oral↗

Improvement in jejunal enzyme adaptation in obese adult-onset diabetic patients following a 30-day fast.

The adaptive responses of gastrointestinal enzymes, glucose tolerance, and plasma insulin to diet, folic acid, and insulin of five obese adult-onset diabetic patients were studied before and after a 30-day fast. Their data were compared to the adaptive responses of gastrointestinal enzymes to diet, folic acid, and insulin of 15 normal male volunteer subjects, ages 18 to 24. Each group during each testing period received a carbohydrate diet (50% calories as carbohydrate consisting of 1/2 glucose and 1/2 fructose) and a noncarbohydrate diet (70% of calories as corn oil and 30% as sodium caseinate) each without and with folic acid (5 mg three times per day). The effect of insulin was studied only on the carbohydrate diet plus folic acid. Our data demonstrate that obese adult-onset diabetic patients have an impaired adaptive response of jejunal carbohydrate-metabolizing enzyme activities (hexokinase, pyruvate kinase, fructose-1-6-diphosphate aldolase, fructosediphosphatase) to dietary carbohydrate, oral folic acid, and insulin when compared to normal subjects and nondiabetic obese patients. Following a 30-day fast, the obese diabetic patients showed an improvement in glucose tolerance, hyperinsulinemia, and the adaptive response of the jejunal carbohydrate-metabolizing enzyme activities to dietary carbohydrate, folic acid, and insulin. The greatest improvement in the adaptive response of the jejunal enzyme activities occurred on the carbohydrate diet.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Effects of insulin, tolbutamide, and glucagon on activities of jejunal carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes in humans.

The activities of jejunal carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes show adaptive drugs, and sex hormones. To learn whether insulin, tolbutamide, and glucagon had effects on these enzymes, we performed serial peroral jejunal biopsies in normal young men and in obese patients, before and after treatment with these agents. Jejunal mucosa was assayed for glycolytic enzyme activities, pyruvate kinase (PK), hexokinase (HK), and fructose-1,6-diphosphate aldolase (FDPA), and the nonglycolytic enzyme activity, fructose diphosphatase (FDPase). Insulin significantly increased the activity of jejunal PK (+48% change from control) and HK (+6%), decreased the activity of FDPase (-36%),and had no effect on FDPA. Glucagon had opposite effects; the activity of PK was decreased (-33%) and FDPase was increased (+50%). Tolbutamide significantly increased the activities of PK (+47%), HK (+14%), and FDPA (+7%), and decreased the activities of FDPase (-36%). The results of tolbutamide on glycolytic enzyme activities were independent of endogenous insulin. The data support the concept that jejunal carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes in man respond to hormones and drugs similar to responses observed in rat liver. This is important because it now gives us a means of studying the actions of these hormones directly in human tissue.

Adolescent↗

Comparison of the adaptive changes in disaccharidase, glycolytic enzyme and fructosediphosphatase activities after intravenous and oral glucose in normal men.

Seven subjects were fed a 3,000 kcal defined formula diet daily for 19 days. Except for one 5-day period, 50% of the total caloric intake was provided as either oral or intravenous glucose. The study was divided into four periods as follows: period I lasted 5 days and provided 50% of calories as glucose; period II lasted 5 days and provided no carbohydrate (70% fat and 30% protein); period III lasted 4 days and provided 50% of calories as intravenous glucose and 50% of calories as oral fat plus protein; period IV lasted 5 days and provided 50% of calories as oral glucose. Intestinal biopsy specimens were taken on days 3 and 5 of each period, except period III when biopsies were done only on day 4. No change in intestinal morphology occurred during the study. The carbohydrate-free diet caused the alpha-glucosidase (maltase and sucrase) activities to decrease significantly from that seen with the glucose diet. Sucrase decreased from 14.4 +/- 1.0 to 7.1 +/- 0.9 mumoles/min per g tissue and maltase decreased from 56.1 +/- 3.4 to 30.0 +/- 2.1 mumoles/min per g tissue. Glycolytic enzyme activities decreased during the carbohydrate-free period (pyruvate kinase decreased from 236 +/- 12 to 78 +/- 8, fructose 1-phosphate aldolase decreased from 147 +/- 6 to 53 +/- 4, fructose-1,6-diphosphate aldolase decreased from 151 +/- 8 to 55 +/- 3, and hexokinase decreased from 21 +/- 3 to 7 +/- 1 nmoles/min per mg protein, respectively). Intravenous glucose caused no change in disaccharidase activities. The enzyme activities during periods I and IV were identical and significantly higher than during period II with the exception of fructose-1,6-diphosphatase which increased during period II as compared with periods I and IV. These findings provide an explanation for the transient period of decreased tolerance to dietary sugars when patients are weaned from total parenteral feedings to enteral feedings.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Effects of carbohydrate restriction on glucose tolerance of normal men and reactive hypoglycemic patients.

Normal individuals ingesting a low carbohydrate diet frequently develop an impairment of glucose tolerance as measured by the oral glucose tolerance test; most of these diets, however, have been high in fat content. Our present studies demonstrate that a low carbohydrate diet (57 g/day) did not impair the glucose tolerance of normal men if the fat content was similar to values on a standard (301 g/day) carbohydrate diet. However, a low carbohydrate diet did lead to impaired glucose tolerance when the fat content was 16 per cent higher than on the control diet. Thus our present and previous studies demonstrate that normal men maintain normal glucose tolerance on low carbohydrate diets and suggest that the deterioration of the glucose tolerance observed on high fat diets is related to the increased fat content rather than to the reduced carbohydrate content of these diets. Seven patients with reactive hypoglycemia were exquisitely sensitive to carbohydrate deprivation. Whereas the glucose tolerance tests of normal men were not altered by a low carbohydrate, high protein diet, a significant deterioration of glucose tolerance occurred when reactive hypoglycemic patients were changed from control diets to low carbohydrate, high protein diets. These hypoglycemic patients also showed an exaggerated deterioration of the glucose tolerance after a 48-hour fast when compared tothe response of normal men. Our observations suggest that a low carbohydrate, high protein diet is not the best therapeutic diet for certain patients with reactive hypoglycemia because this diet does not provide symptomatic improvement and, in addition, leads to impaired glucose tolerance.

Adolescent↗

The rapid changes of hepatic glycolytic enzymes and fructose-1,6-diphosphatase activities after intravenous glucagon in humans.

Glucagon (0.04-0.09 mg/kg/min) was given intravenously for either 2 or 3 min to eight patients with fasting-induced hypoglycemia. One child had hepatic phosphorylase deficiency, two children had glucose-6-phosphatase deficiency, two children had debrancher enzyme (amylo-1,6-glucosidase) deficiency, and two children and one adult had decreased hepatic fructose-1,6-diphosphatase (FDPase) activity. Liver biopsy specimens were obtained before and immediately after the glucagon infusion. The glucagon caused a significant increase in the activity of FDPase (from 50+/-10.0 to 72+/-11.7 nmol/mg protein/min) and a significant decrease in the activities of phosphofructokinase (PFK) (from 92+/-6.1 to 41+/-8.1 nmol/mg protein/min) and pyruvate kinase (PK) (from 309+/-39.4 to 165+/-23.9 nmol/mg protein/min). The glucagon infusion also caused a significant increase in hepatic cyclic AMP concentrations (from 41+/-2.6 to 233+/-35.6 pmol/mg protein). Two patients with debrancher enzyme deficiency who had biopsy specimens taken 5 min after the glucagon infusion had persistence of enzyme and cyclic AMP changes for at least 5 min. One child with glucose-6-phosphatase deficiency was given intravenous glucose (150 mg/kg/min) for a period of 5 min after the glucagon infusion and biopsy. The plasma insulin concentration increased from 8 to 152 muU/ml and blood glucose increased from 72 to 204 mg/100 ml. A third liver biopsy specimen was obtained immediately after the glucose infusion and showed that the glucagon-induced effects on PFK and FDPase were completely reversed. The glucagon infusion caused an increase in hepatic cyclic AMP concentration from 38 to 431 pmol/mg protein but the glucose infusion caused only a slight decrease in hepatic cyclic AMP concentration (from 431 to 384 pmol/mg protein), which did not appear to be sufficient to account for the changes in enzyme activities. Hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase and fructose-1,6-diphosphate aldolase activities were not altered by either the glucagon or the glucose infusion in any patients. Cyclic AMP (0.05 mmol/kg) was injected into the portal vein of adult rats and caused enzyme changes similar to those seen with glucagon administration in humans. Our findings suggest that rapid changes in the activities of PFK, PK, and FDPase are important in the regulation of hepatic glycolysis and gluconeogenesis, respectively, in humans and that cyclic AMP may mediate the glucagon- but probably not the glucose-insulin-induced changes in enzyme activities.

Adult↗