Mechanisms of inhibitory action of sodium salicylate on L-glutamine-D-fructose-6-phosphate aminotransferase, prepared from rat gastric mucosa, were studied. Sodium salicylate at lower concentrations (10-20 mM) inhibited reversibly aminotransferase activity by competing with fructose-6-phosphate. At higher concentrations, sodium salicylate inactivated the enzyme irreversibly, with an inactivation rate following first-order kinetics with respect to the enzyme concentration. Uridine-5'-diphospho-N-acetylglucosamine is an endogenous feedback inhibitor. It inhibited the aminotransferase-catalyzed reaction also by competing with fructose-6-phosphate but with an inhibiting activity 1000 times that of sodium salicylate. Uridine-5'-diphospho-N-acetylglucosamine reduced the salicylate inhibition of the enzymic reaction and protected the enzyme from salicylate-induced irreversible inactivation. At a fixed concentration of uridine-5'-diphospho-N-acetylglucosamine (7x10(-6)M), an increase of salicylate concentration produced an increase in enzyme activity as compared with the control.