In vivo metabolism of nitrogen precursors for urea synthesis in the postprandial rat

(1) Adult postprandial rats were given a continuous, intravenous infusion of 15N-labelled glutamate, alanine, ammonium chloride and glutamine amide for 6 h. The enrichment in the free hepatic pool was measured for ammonia, glutamine amide, urea, aspartate, glutamate and alanine. (2) Glutamine and glutamate supplied significantly more nitrogen to urea than ammonium chloride or alanine. (3) Glutamate was not a significant source of hepatic ammonia, hence in this situation it is not necessary to impute a major role to glutamate dehydrogenase in hepatic ammoniagenesis for urea synthesis. (4) Glutamine and ammonia, mostly of intestinal origin in the postprandial state, were major precursors of hepatic ammonia. (5) The nitrogen of glutamate and alanine moved to urea primarily through aspartic acid.