Early changes in serum enzymes in the rat following burn trauma

¹ U. S. Naval Medical Field Research Laboratory, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

Under ether anesthesia, 30% surface area scalds were administered to young adult rats. Controls were treated similarly except for the scald. The animals were sacrificed at 15 min after injury, and their serum was analyzed for enzyme activities and chemical constituents. Large increases in catalase, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, lactic dehydrogenase, glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase, and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase activites were noted in postburn serum. No statistically significant change was found in acetylcholinesterase, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, leucine aminopeptidase, 5'-nucleotidase, or succinic dehydrogenase. Amylase activity was decreased in the burned animals. Serum oxyhemoglobin and inorganic phosphate were elevated, but total protein remained unchanged following trauma. The etiology of the early postburn serum changes is believed to be tissue damage produced by the burn, an important component of which is in vivo hemolysis. A possible relationship between the rapid extracellular buildup of enzymatically active protein and the pathology of burn injury is suggested.