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  • Title: Dexamethasone increases the capacity of urea synthesis time dependently and reduces the body weight of rats.
    Author: Sigsgaard I, Almdal T, Hansen BA, Vilstrup H.
    Journal: Liver; 1988 Aug; 8(4):193-7. PubMed ID: 3047515.
    Abstract:
    Rats of 230 g were treated with 0.1 mg of dexamethasone twice daily for 2 days (n = 5) and 14 days (n = 9). Controls received isotonic saline. During the first week of dexamethasone treatment the rats lost weight rapidly (up to 9 g/day). The weight loss diminished during the second week of treatment. The fasting blood insulin concentration increased sevenfold in the dexamethasone-treated rats. Fasting blood glucagon and glucose concentrations were not different from controls. In the dexamethasone-treated rats the fasting alpha-amino-N concentrations were lower: 4.0 +/- 0.3 mmol/l (mean +/- SEM) versus 6.8 +/- 0.3 mmol/l in controls. The capacity of Urea-N Synthesis, determined during alanine loading was: after 2 days of treatment 14.7 +/- 1.7 mumol/(min 100 g), after 14 days of treatment 7.9 +/- 0.8 mumol/(min 100 g), and in controls 7.5 +/- 1.0 mumol/(min 100 g) (mean +/- SEM). In conclusion, glucocorticoid treatment leads to a transient change in the liver function as to hepatic amino-N conversion, implying that more amino-N than normal is eliminated as urea-N after 2 days of treatment. This may contribute to the early, but not the late body weight loss.
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