Abstract
1. Measurements were made in situ to determine the incorporation of intraportally infused ammonia‐15N into urinary uric acid in cockerels pre‐treated with methionine sulfoximine (MSM), a glutamine synthetase inhibitor. 2. The incorporation of 15N into urinary uric acid was 34% of the infused amount in MSM‐treated birds. This was not significantly different from the value of 46% for control birds. 3. Pre‐treatment with MSM inhibited the activity of liver glutamine synthetase to 7% of the control value and decreased the incorporation of the infused ammonia‐15N into plasma glutamine amide‐N to 3% of the control. 4. Increases in glutamine concentrations in the blood, liver and kidney caused by the infusion of ammonia were also completely inhibited by the MSM treatment (P<0.05). 5. It is concluded that in the cockerel ammonia‐N can be incorporated into uric acid other than by glutamine formation.

This publication has 17 references indexed in Scilit: