Enhanced galactose metabolism in isolated perfused livers of folate-treated suckling rats.

Folic acid (1 mg/day) was administered intraperitoneally to seven-day-old suckling rats for a period of seven days. Livers of folate-treated animals took up galactose rapidly during the first 35 minutes of perfusion, whereas uptake was delayed in the controls (sham-injected and untreated). More glucose was released by all groups when galactose was perfused than when other substrates were used. With each hexose tested, livers of the folate group consistently released less glucose but more lactate than the controls. The specific activity of galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase was elevated in livers of the folate group compared to the controls perfused with either galactose or glucose. A similar finding was made for ATP levels in perfused livers of this group. The differences in transferase and ATP levels in perfused livers of folate-treated over the control groups may explain the enhanced galactose uptake pattern.