Organ enzyme patterns and plasma enzyme activities in the chicken, ostrich and flamingo
Keller, P.; Schulze, J.; Ruedi, D.
Schweizer Archiv für Tierheilkunde 128(8): 407-418
1986
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-7281 PMID: 3775347 Document Number: 269399
Creatine kinase (CK), fructose-diphosphate aldolase (ALS), glutamate dehydrogenase (GLD) and iditol or sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) exhibited an analogous tissue distribution pattern and organ specificity as is commonly found in mammalian species. The remaining enzymes (alkaline phosphatase or ALP, gamma -glutamyltransferase or GGT, alpha -hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase or HBD, lactate dehydrogenase or LD, aspartate and alanine aminotransferase or AST and ALT) were of ubiquitous origin, but again, no fundamental differences were observed between the distribution patterns of the investigated bird tissues and those of corresponding mammalian organs. However, in the investigated bird species, ALT was not liver-specific and had a lower absolute liver activity, a finding in marked contrast to the conditions seen in the dog, cat and the rat. Furthermore a low LD/HBD quotient, similar to that of the heart muscle, was found in the liver of the domestic fowl, the ostrich and flamingo, representing a phenomenon which is also typical for the ruminant liver. The possibilities of a diagnostic application of enzyme activity determinations in birds is briefly discussed.