Blood Ammonia and Its Sources Quiz

Glutamine Synthesis and Ammonia Regulation

• Glutamine synthesis takes place in the skeletal muscle and liver.
• In the liver, glutamine removes the toxic effect of ammonia by converting it into urea.
• Carbonic anhydrase is the enzyme involved in the regulation of acid-base balance in the kidney.
• The principal pathway of disposal of ammonia as an end product of protein nitrogen catabolism is the urea cycle.
• The main purpose of converting ammonia into urea in the liver is to prevent ammonia toxicity.
• In the kidneys, ammonia is formed from the deamination of glutamine.
• 60% of excreted ammonia is catabolized to ammonium ions, which are then excreted in the urine.
• The anabolic fate of ammonia involves the synthesis of purines, pyrimidines, and sugaramines.
• The primary source of blood ammonia is amino acids, which undergo transdeamination reactions to form ammonia.
• In the liver, ammonia is rapidly removed from the circulation and converted into glutamate, glutamine, or urea.