[Effect of phenylalanine and alpha-tocopherol on ubiquinone and ubichromenol metabolism in the liver of E-avitaminotic rats in vitro].

When incubating the liver pulp of vitamin E-deficiency rats with 2-14C-sodium acetate and phenylalanine for an hour the content and radioactivity of ubiquinone and ubichromenol increase as compared to the control level. In this respect phenylalanine in in a dose of 60 and 120 mumol per 1 g of the liver pulp is most effective. Under conditions of these experiments incubation for 3 h causes no noticable changes in the content and metabolism of ubiquinone and ubichromenol in the liver pulp of vitamin E-deficiency rats as compared to the control level. Introduction of different amounts of alpha-tocopherol into the incubation medium results 3 h after an increase in concentration and radioactivity of ubiquinone, the alpha-tocopherol dose of 116 nmol being the most effective. An increase in the concentration and radioactivity of ubichromenol occurs at lower doses of exogenous alpha-tocopherol (58 nmol). All the used doses of alpha-tocopherol cause a decrease in intensity of radio-label incorporation into the unsaponifiable fraction of vitamin E-deficiency rat liver incubated for 3 h. Phenylalanine also results in a decrease of these values with the system incubation for an hour and produces no changes in them in the 3 h incubation. The results of the experiments give grounds to suppose the presence of interrelation between alpha-tocopherol and biosynthesis of ubiquinone and ubichromenol in the rat liver.