Metabolism of Carbon 14 Methyl-Labeled Sodium Acetate Following Thermal Trauma in the Rat

¹ From the Medical Nutrition Laboratory, United States Army, Fitzsimons Army Hospital, Denver, Colorado, and the Army Medical Service Graduate School, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D. C.

Observations on the metabolism of C¹⁴ methyl-labeled sodium acetate have been obtained in 14 control and 11 burned rats. The C¹⁴ acetate was given intraperitoneally 3 days after ether anesthesia (control) or after anesthesia and thermal trauma. The losses of C¹⁴ in expired air and urine were measured in both groups. The data suggest that tissue protein synthesis from acetate is proceeding in the burned rats and at rates which are almost certainly not slower than in normal rats. This would suggest that generalized antianabolism is not the basis for the increased urinary nitrogen excretion after burns.