[Correction of the symptoms of hereditary galactosemia in W/SSM strain rats by enzymatic imprinting].

It was recently shown in this laboratory that treatment of newborn animals with certain enzymic inducers causes stable changes in the activities of the inducible enzymes at a later adult stage. Cataracts, hepato-splenomegaly and other galactosemia symptoms in galactosemic W/SSM rats develop spontaneously. The increased uptake of galactose by erythrocytes, but not the decreased level of galactose-1-phosphate uridyl transferase (Gal-1-PUT) activity was assumed to be the major cause of the disease. The administration of galactose to the newborn W/SSM rats (2 mg/g of body weight for 14 days) resulted in a sustained decline in the uptake of 14C-galactose by erythrocytes at least for five months, in an increase of glucoso-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity and in a continuous fall of Gal-1-PUT activity. The neonatal treatment of the galactosemic rats with galactose abolished the main symptoms of galactosemia (cararacts, hepato-splenomegally) in adult animals, perhaps ar a consequence of the stable changes in the galactose metabolism.