In 67 patients with chronic liver disease, plasma levels of zinc, ammonia, and Fischer ratio were measured. In liver cirrhosis, plasma levels of zinc and Fischer ratio were significantly lower, and ...serum levels of ammonia were significantly higher than those in chronic hepatitis. Eleven patients with liver cirrhosis received an oral supplementation of zinc. Plasma levels of zinc significantly increased, and plasma levels of ammonia significantly reduced by zinc, but Fischer ratio did not significantly changed. These findings indicated that zinc deficiency in liver cirrhosis might modify amino acid-nitrogen metabolism, and that an oral supplementation of zinc could improve these disorder.
Serine proteinase inhibitors I, IIa, and IIb were purified from the tubers of five Solanum species to homogeneity by polyacrylamide gel disc electrophoresis. The purified inhibitors were ...characterized in terms of chemical, physicochemical, and immunochemical properties. Some slight but clear interspecific differences were noticed among the respective types of inhibitor molecules. Based on the differences, the five Solanum species were classified into two groups. The first group included three tetraploid species, i.e., S. tuberosum ssp. tuberosum (common potato), S. tuberosum ssp. andigena (an Andean cultivated species), and an artificial amphidiploid of S. stenotomum × S. phureja. The second group consisted of S. acaule (a wild tetraploid species), and S. juzepczukii (a natural triploid hybrid between S. acaule and S. stenotomum). This classification is in good agreement with the phylogenetic relations so far known among the Solanum species tested.
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