Evolución de la actividad de la Bilirrubina-UDP Glucuronosil-Transferasa (bUDP-GT) durante el desarrollo en rata
- Rosa María Arahuetes Portero
- Agustín Ortiz
- Elvira Arza
- María del Socorro García Barrutia
- María Helena Cantarino
- Francisco J. Cubero
ISSN: 1138-3399, 1989-2128
Year of publication: 2002
Issue: 24
Pages: 155-160
Type: Article
More publications in: Anales de biología
Abstract
Conjugation of bilirubin and excretion by the liver is catalysed by the microsomal enzyme bilirubin-UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (bUDP-GT). It is well known that during gestation, the fetal liver in utero is incapable for capture, conjugation and clearance of bilirubin. However, we have previously demonstrated that the gene responsible for the enzyme starts to express by day 13 of gestation. Therefore, the aims of the present work are first, to carry out a procedure so as to determine the activity of the bUDP-GT in the hepatic tissue, and, second, to obtain new data about the changes during the perinatal development in the activity levels of the mentioned enzyme. On the one hand, we have analyzed both, the activation time of the microsomal fraction, which stabilizes after 30 minutes of incubation, and the changes in the enzyme activity which reach a maximum peak after 5 minutes of incubation. On the other hand, we only detect activity of the bUDP-GT at the final period of gestation, reaching adult levels during the first month of extrauterine life.