Tissue and blood cell concentration of methylguanidine in rats and patients with chronic renal failure.

Methylguanidine concentration in blood cell of nondialysed patients with chronic renal failure was quantitatively determined by the method of the present authors. We also determined tissue methylguanidine concentrations in the liver, blood cell, kidney, colon, muscle and brain of uremic rat experimentally produced by Platt's method. Methylguanidine concentrations in blood cell and tissues except the brain of the uremic rats and in blood cell of the uremic patients were 5--7 times higher than those in their serums. An increased methylguanidine concentration in the liver of the uremic rat receiving 40% protein diet was observed. These results imply that methylguanidine acts as one of the important uremic toxins in the intracellular space except for the brain, and suggest that the liver specifically affects the formation of methylguanidine.