Postnatal development of enzyme activities of nitrogen catabolism in the liver of Japanese quail]

In the course of postnatal development from the hatching up to the age of 84 days, the activities of xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH), glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) and arginase were examined in the liver of Japanese quail. The observation in weekly intervals showed a gradual character of XDH development whereas the conclusion of the first degree correlated to some extent with the period of achieving the sexual maturity of animals. The GLDH activity increased in the course of the growth with attainment of the maximum value in the same period. The course of the development of hepatic arginase activity indicated the potential changes of this enzyme.