The effect of egg phospholipid administration upon liver enzymic activities during ethionine treatment.

Female rats were injected subcutaneously with ethionine, and enzymic activities of liver membranes (Na+-k+-stimulated ATPase, Mg2+-stimulated ATPase, glucose-6-phosphatase, NADPH: cytochrome c oxido-reductase and NAD-nucleosidase) examined at proper intervals, during the intraperitoneal treatment of an egg phospholipid preparation (EPL). It is shown that EPL is unable to overcome the enzymic changes due to severe ethionine treatment, but is able to facilitate the recovery times after drug withdrawal for all the enzymic activities, except for NAD-nucleosidase. At lower dosage of the drug, the ethionine treatment is able to prevent the observed change of the glucose-6-phosphatase activity but not that of the Mg2+-ATPase. It is suggested that the EPL treatment may modify the chemical composition ahd/or architecture of liver membranes, altered by the ethionine injection, thus acting, at least partially, on the enzymic changes.