Abstract
Extract: Transient elevation of the activity of adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT) was found along with hyperuricemia in an infant in the neonatal period. A systematic investigation was begun of the activity of the phosphoribosyltransferases in the first days of life. Adenine phosphoribosyltransferase and hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) were assayed using radiochemical methods in which the nucleotide products of the enzymatic reactions are precipitated with lanthanum chloride. Phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate (PRPP) was assayed using a method based on the utilization of PRPP in a system containing (14C)adenine and APRT. The activity of APRT in the neonate was found to exceed consistently that of the adult. The degree of elevation was as great as that observed in patients with Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. The mean value of APRT in the adult was 665 nmol AMP/min/ml packed cells, whereas in the neonate the mean value was 1,150. The difference between neonate and adult was significant statistically at the <0.001 level.
Erythrocytes of adults were fractionated into young and old cells. The activity of APRT in the young cells from each individual was 1.5–2.1 times that of the old cells. The concentrations of PRPP were significantly greater in the erythrocytes of neonates than in those of adults (P < 0.001). The mean concentration in the infants was 2.4 times the adult mean value.
It was concluded that the elevated activity of APRT in the neonate reflected partly a young population of cells and partly a stabilization by PRPP of APRT against the attrition of aging.
Speculation: The activity of APRT was first found to be elevated in the erythrocytes of patients with the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. It has been found to be elevated to an identical degree in patients with partial deficiency of HGPRT and with overproduction of uric acid without abnormality in HGPRT. Now it is apparent that APRT is elevated to precisely the same degree in the normal newborn infant. These observations speak for a common mechanism of biologic control.
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Borden, M., Nyhan, W. & Bakay, B. Increased Activity of Adenine Phosphoribosyltransferase in Erythrocytes of Normal Newborn Infants. Pediatr Res 8, 31–36 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197401000-00006
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197401000-00006
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