Discrimination between periportal and pericentral necrosis of rat liver by determination of glutamine synthetase and other enzyme activities in serum.

Periportal or pericentral necrosis of rat liver was produced by injection of allyl-alcohol or bromobenzene, respectively. Activities of predominantly periportal and perivenous enzymes were determined in serum during maximal necrosis. Aspartate aminotransferase, which is more or less homogeneously distributed in the liver acinus, exhibited similar activities in serum after periportal and pericentral injury. Serum activities of the mainly periportal enzymes alanine aminotransferase and fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase were 1.5- to 2-fold higher after periportal as compared to pericentral necrosis. Serum activity of the mainly pericentral glutamate dehydrogenase was 3-fold higher after pericentral than after periportal damage. However, due to individual variations necrosis could not be definitively localized in any case by measurement of these enzyme activities. Better discrimination between periportal and pericentral necrosis was achieved by the serum activity of the exclusively pericentral enzyme glutamine synthetase, which was 8-fold higher after pericentral as compared to periportal necrosis. Conclusive discrimination was obtained by the activity ratio fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase/glutamine synthetase in serum.