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Research Article Free access | 10.1172/JCI106443
Departamento de Gastroenterología, Patología y Bioquímica, Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición, México 7, D. F.
Find articles by Kershenobich, D. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar
Departamento de Gastroenterología, Patología y Bioquímica, Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición, México 7, D. F.
Find articles by Fierro, F. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar
Departamento de Gastroenterología, Patología y Bioquímica, Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición, México 7, D. F.
Find articles by Rojkind, M. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar
Published December 1, 1970 - More info
The free proline, free glutamic acid, and total collagen contents of the livers of cirrhotic and noncirrhotic patients were determined. The amounts of free proline in the sera of the patients were also determined. The results indicated that certain metabolic changes occurred in cirrhotic livers of humans that were similar to the metabolic changes observed previously in CCl4-induced cirrhosis in the rat. The amount of free proline was coordinate with the increase in total collagen, and both were inversely related to the amount of free glutamic acid. The average proline concentration in sera of cirrhotic patients was not higher than that of non cirrhotic patients, suggesting that the metabolic alteration noted above is a local event in the liver related to fibrogenesis. These and other results suggest that the pool size of free proline may play a prime role in regulation of collagen biosynthesis in liver cirrhosis.
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