Typescript, etc. / Digitized by Kansas State University Libraries

Typescript, etc. / Digitized by Kansas State University Libraries

Erythrocyte glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (EGPT) and glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (EGOT) activities reflect vitamin B₆ status in humans (Baysal, Johnson, and Linkswiler, 1966). Pyridoxal phosphate (PALPO), an active form of vitamin B₆, serves as the coenzyme for these transaminases. Compared to other methods of vitamin B₆ assessment, transaminase measurement has the advantage of dealing with a single enzyme requiring PALPO and reflecting the subject's vitamin B₆ status over a long period of time (Sauberlich et al., 1970). Although studies on transaminase activity in adults have been reported, information on EGPT and EGOT activities in children is not available. This study was undertaken to determine the activities of EGPT and EGOT in normal preschool, children. In addition, factors affecting transaminase activities were considered. The storage stability of EGPT and EGOT was also reported. Participating in this study were 109 subjects, aged from 21 to 126 months. The activities of EGPT and EGOT were expressed as μg pyruvate/mg hemoglobin (Hb)/hr and mg pyruvate/ ml red blood cells/hr. The basal activity indicates the level of holoenzyme. The stimulated activity with added in-vitro PALPO shows the level of holoenzyme plus apoenzyme. The percent stimulation represents the degree of saturation of apoenzyme with the coenzyme (Cavill and Jacobs, 1967). For EGPT, the basal activity and percent stimulation were 1.20 ± 0.44 μg pyruvate/mg Hb/hr and 11.70 ± 7.00 percent, respectively. Those of EGOT were 23.30 ± 5.77 μg pyruvate/ mg Hb/hr and 69.90 ± 23.3 percent. The two different ways of expressing basal activity of EGPT and EGOT were highly correlated with one another. A significant positive correlation was found between the basal activities of EGPT and EGOT (p < 0.01). However, the positive relationship between their corresponding percent stimulation was> not significant. The stimulated and basal activities for both EGPT and EGOT were closely correlated (p < 0.01), which indicated that the level of holoenzyme is largely dependent on the amount of-apoenzyme available. A significant inverse relationship (p < 0.01) existed between the basal activity and percent stimulation of EGOT, which meant that the high enzyme activity level is usually associated with a high degree of saturation of the apoenzyme with PALPO. The similar inverse relationship for EGPT was not statistically significant. In the subjects whose diet was supplemented with multivitamins containing pyridoxine, the transaminase activities appeared to be higher and the corresponding percent stimulation lower than in those receiving no supplementation. However, the difference was only significant for basal EGPT, using the Student's t test (p < 0.01). The subjects with high basal activities or low percent stimulation of EGPT or EGOT also tended to have higher plasma vitamin B₆ levels. But these relationships were not significant. As the age of the subjects increased, the basal and stimulated activities of both EGPT and EGOT declined, accompanied by the corresponding increase in percent stimulation. The correlations for basal and stimulated activities, as well as percent stimulation of EGOT, but not EGPT, with age were significant (p < 0.05). The differences in transaminase activities due to sex were not significant. But in general, the girls had a lower basal activity and a higher percent stimulation for both EGPT and EGOT than the boys. The average hemoglobin level of the subjects was 12.95 ± 0.77 g percent. The hemoglobin levels increased significantly with age (p < 0.01). Finally, experiments with two hemolysate samples showed that no loss of EGPT or EGOT activities occurred with freezing and storage within 13 days. / Graduation date: 1976

The effect of source of dietary carboyhydrate upon the concentration and distribution of phospholipids in the fractions of human blood was studied. Three healthy women received diets which contained 16% of the calories as protein, 40% as fat, and 44% as carbohydrate. During the four dietary periods of six days each, 80% of the carbohydrate was supplied alternately by sucrose (Sugar Diet) or by polysaccharides from natural sources (Complex Diet). Blood samples were drawn before breakfast on the final day of each dietary period. The total lipid, lipid phosphorus, and distribution of phospholipids were determined in erythrocytes, leukocytes, platelets, and plasma. Clotting time of the platelet-rich plasma of the subjects was determined. In periods of this length, no consistent changes in the blood lipids could be detected. The Sugar Diet appeared to increase the proportion of phosphatidyl choline and decrease the proportion of sphingomyelin slightly in the plasma and platelets. The phosphatidyl choline fraction of the leukocyte phospholipids decreased slightly after the Sugar Diet. No relationship was observed between in vitro coagulation time and the distribution of phospholipids in the blood fractions. One subject did demonstrate a marked increase in coagulation time after the diet containing complex carbohydrate. / Graduation date: 1969

Diets containing cyclopropenoid fatty acids (CPFA) were fed to rainbow trout. At a level of 223 ppm (from Sterculia foetida oil), these CPFA in six weeks reduced weight gain by as much as 50 percent over the control fish on the same diet without CPFA. Compounds containing the intact cyclopropene ring were recovered from the tissue lipids of the trout at approximately two-thirds of the level fed. These acids seemed to concentrate in the egg lipids of the adult female fish. At 223 and 2233 ppm (from S. foetida oil) and 50 ppm (from food grade cottonseed flour) the CPFA were demonstrated to alter lipid metabolism. In general, the CPFA fed fish had higher stearic and palmitic acid levels and lower oleic and palmitoleic acid levels in their tissue lipids than did the controls. On diets containing corn oil or corn oil plus salmon oil, fish fed CPFA tended to deposit more long chain unsaturated fatty acids than did their controls. When provided with tristearin as the sole dietary lipid, the CPFA fed fish reduced the level of unsaturation of their tissue lipids. / Graduation date: 1967

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