THE ACTIVITY OF ARGINASE IN RED BLOOD CELLS

KOCHAKIAN (5) found that the red blood cell arginase activity was increased in one patient with the adrenogenital syndrome, and lowered in two with Addison's disease. Fraenkel-Conrat, Simpson and Evans (2) reported an increase in the activity of liver arginase in hypophysectomized rats following the administration of 17-hydroxydehydrocorticosterone, dehydrocorticosterone, and corticosterone. The present paper attempts to obtain additional evidence on these points. 1. Preparation of laked red blood cells for arginase determination: Blood was taken in heparin, 15 ml. for preparation of the standard reference curve, and 10 ml. for subsequent determinations. After removal of 3 ml. for the hemoglobin determination, the remainder was centrifuged in 6 ml. tubes to obtain the hematocrit. The plasma was discarded and the red cells washed once with isotonic saline. The packed cells were then diluted to five time their volume with distilled water and shaken occasionally for 10 minutes to insure complete hemolysis. Aliquots of this solution of hemolyzed cells were used in the arginase determinations.