USE OF EXOGENOUS AND ENDOGENOUS UREA FOR PROTEIN SYNTHESIS IN NORMAL AND UREMIC SUBJECTS.

Abstract

Abstract If urea, under certain conditions, were used for protein synthesis, the possibility would exist that patients with azotemia could utilize their own urea for anabolic purposes. To investigate this hypothesis, nitrogen balance was studied in a volunteer and in a group of 8 patients with renal disease, 6 of whom were uremic. With the use of a synthetic diet containing essential amino acids in low quantity, it is shown that urea, either if given exogenously or if taken endogenously from waste nitrogen retained in uremia, is utilized for synthesis of nonessential amino acids. Treatment with Humatin, ∗ ∗Parke, Davis & Co., Detroit, Mich. an agent which is effective in suppressing intestinal flora, did not influence the use of urea for protein synthesis.