Enzymatic Studies of Glucuronide Formation in Impaired Liver I. Assay Methods For the Determination of Glucuronyl Transferase Activity and Uridine Diphosphate Glucuronic Acid Content of Liver Tissue Using 4-Methyl Umbelliferone as a Glucuronide Receptor; Its Application to Needle Liver Biopsy Tissues

An attempt was made to apply the method devised by ARIAS for the determination of liver glucuronyl transferase activity using 4-methyl umbelliferone as a glucuronide receptor to the small amounts of liver tissue obtained by needle biopsy. This was accomplished by studying the kinetics of enzymatic 4-methyl umbelliferone glucuronide formation by mean(of mouse liver homogenates. The improved method was proved to be applicable to human liver and gave a satisfactory result. In addition, an assay method for the estimation of liver uridine diphosphate glucuronic acid content from the amount of 4-methyl umbelliferone glucuronide formed from the uridine diphosphate glucuronic acid contained in the liver homogenate used as a source of glucuronyl transferase was studied, and as a result it was proved to be also applicable to the small amounts of human liver tissue.