 Glutamate in the liver enters mitochondria and is broken down by glutamate dehydrogenase into α-ketoglutarate and ammonium, which in turn participates in the urea cycle to form urea which is excreted through the kidneys.The glucose–alanine cycle enables pyruvate and glutamate to be removed from muscle and safely transported to the liver.Once there, pyruvate is used to regenerate glucose, after which the glucose returns to muscle to be metabolized for energy