Recommendation for the measurement of "alanine aminopeptidase" in urine.

A method is recommended for the measurement of the catalytic concentration of alanine aminopeptidase in the urine of man, rat, and dog, using L-alanine-4-nitroanilide as substrate. In currently used methods, substrate concentrations between 1.7 and 2.

Identification of inhibitors of urinary alanine aminopeptidase.

Amino acids and ammonia were identified as natural inhibitors of urinary AAP. In urines from healthy volunteers approximately one half of the inhibition could be accounted for by amino acids and ammonia. At the measured concentrations, histidine, ammonia and phenylalanine, in decreasing order, were the most effective inhibitors.

Prolactin in animal experimentation. Report on the workshop conference of the German Society for Clinical Chemistry held on November 8 to 9, 1984 in Rödermark, FRG.

Work in recent years has revealed that prolactin can no longer be considered exclusively as a lactation hormone, and must be seen in a much wider physiological perspective. Biochemical and pharmacological studies in animals have made a special contribution, and prolactin is becoming increasingly important in toxicological investigations. The general custom of using rats for such studies has its own inherent problems, involving both the analytical methodology and the special requirements that must be observed in the housing and handling of these experimental animals.