Clearance of argininosuccinate synthetase from the circulation in acute liver disease.

Argininosuccinate synthetase is an enzyme which has been found to be a specific marker for liver damage. In patients with acute hepatitis, the concentration in serum increases at the onset of the disease, but later decreases more quickly, so that the time required for normalization is shorter than that of alanine aminotransferase. This is probably caused by rapid clearance of argininosuccinate synthetase from the serum. Rapid clearance was demonstrated in experimental animals given purified enzymes intravenously. Argininosuccinate synthetase disappeared from the serum with a half life of about 15 min, while the half lives of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase were 4 and 5 h, respectively, under the same conditions.