scholarly journals Nutritional aspects of amino acid metabolism

1972 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Bloxam

1. Measurements of the concentrations of amino acids in the plasma of blood from the portal vein and hepatic vein in the livers of rats made diabetic with streptozotocin or alloxan and starved for 1 d were compared with similar measurements from normal rats starved for 1 d.2. The concentrations of many of the amino acids in the blood plasma were lower in the streptozotocin diabetic rats than in the normal animal while the liver concentrations tended to be increased. This suggests that there is enhanced concentration of these amino acids by the liver in diabetics, as is also found in starvation, which is probably due to factors other than the direct absence of insulin.3. The direction of flow of the groups of amino acids into and out of the liver was unchanged in the diabetic compared with the normal rat except that the output of tryptophan was abolished, and that of the branched-chain group was abolished in alloxan diabetes though apparently enhanced in streptozotocin diabetes. The rates of movement of amino acids in both directions appeared to be increased in the streptozotocin diabetic animals.4. The changed amino acid pattern in the alloxan diabetic rats was to some extent similar to that of the streptozotocin diabetic rats but the changes were more difficult to interpret, perhaps because of side-effects of alloxan on tissues including liver.

1983 ◽  
Vol 244 (2) ◽  
pp. E151-E158 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. T. Brosnan ◽  
K. C. Man ◽  
D. E. Hall ◽  
S. A. Colbourne ◽  
M. E. Brosnan

Amino acid concentrations in whole blood, liver, kidney, skeletal muscle, and brain were measured and arteriovenous differences calculated for head, hindlimb, kidney, gut, and liver in control and streptozotocin-diabetic rats. In the control rats, glutamine was released by muscle and utilized by intestine, intestine released citrulline and alanine, liver removed alanine, and the kidneys removed glycine and produced serine. In diabetic rats, the major changes from the pattern of fluxes seen in the normal rat were the release of many amino acids from muscle, with glutamine and alanine predominating, and the uptake of these amino acids by the liver. Glutamine removal by the intestine was suppressed in diabetes, but a large renal uptake of glutamine was evident. Branched-chain amino acids were removed by the diabetic brain, and consequently, brain levels of a number of large neutral amino acids were decreased in diabetes.


2006 ◽  
Vol 400 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan M. Hutson

BCAAs (branched-chain amino acids) are indispensable (essential) amino acids that are required for body protein synthesis. Indispensable amino acids cannot be synthesized by the body and must be acquired from the diet. The BCAA leucine provides hormone-like signals to tissues such as skeletal muscle, indicating overall nutrient sufficiency. BCAA metabolism provides an important transport system to move nitrogen throughout the body for the synthesis of dispensable (non-essential) amino acids, including the neurotransmitter glutamate in the central nervous system. BCAA metabolism is tightly regulated to maintain levels high enough to support these important functions, but at the same time excesses are prevented via stimulation of irreversible disposal pathways. It is well known from inborn errors of BCAA metabolism that dysregulation of the BCAA catabolic pathways that leads to excess BCAAs and their α-keto acid metabolites results in neural dysfunction. In this issue of Biochemical Journal, Joshi and colleagues have disrupted the murine BDK (branched-chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase kinase) gene. This enzyme serves as the brake on BCAA catabolism. The impaired growth and neurological abnormalities observed in this animal show conclusively the importance of tight regulation of indispensable amino acid metabolism.


2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (7) ◽  
pp. 506-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enoka P Wijekoon ◽  
Craig Skinner ◽  
Margaret E Brosnan ◽  
John T Brosnan

We investigated amino acid metabolism in the Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF Gmi fa/fa) rat during the prediabetic insulin-resistant stage and the frank type 2 diabetic stage. Amino acids were measured in plasma, liver, and skeletal muscle, and the ratios of plasma/liver and plasma/skeletal muscle were calculated. At the insulin-resistant stage, the plasma concentrations of the gluconeogenic amino acids aspartate, serine, glutamine, glycine, and histidine were decreased in the ZDF Gmi fa/fa rats, whereas taurine, α-aminoadipic acid, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, and the 3 branched-chain amino acids were significantly increased. At the diabetic stage, a larger number of gluconeogenic amino acids had decreased plasma concentrations. The 3 branched-chain amino acids had elevated plasma concentrations. In the liver and the skeletal muscles, concentrations of many of the gluconeogenic amino acids were lower at both stages, whereas the levels of 1 or all of the branched-chain amino acids were elevated. These changes in amino acid concentrations are similar to changes seen in type 1 diabetes. It is evident that insulin resistance alone is capable of bringing about many of the changes in amino acid metabolism observed in type 2 diabetes.Key words: plasma amino acids, liver amino acids, muscle amino acids, gluconeogenesis.


2002 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 646-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald K. Layman

Exercise produces changes in protein and amino acid metabolism. These changes include degradation of the branched-chain amino acids, production of alanine and glutamine, and changes in protein turnover. One of the amino acid most affected by exercise is the branched-chain amino acid leucine. Recently, there has been an increased understanding of the role of leucine in metabolic regulations and remarkable new findings about the role of leucine in intracellular signaling. Leucine appears to exert a synergistic role with insulin as a regulatory factor in the insulin/phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3-K) signal cascade. Insulin serves to activate the signal pathway, while leucine is essential to enhance or amplify the signal for protein synthesis at the level of peptide initiation. Studies feeding amino acids or leucine soon after exercise suggest that post-exercise consumption of amino acids stimulates recovery of muscle protein synthesis via translation regulations. This review focuses on the unique roles of leucine in amino acid metabolism in skeletal muscle during and after exercise. Key words: branched-chain amino acids, insulin, protein synthesis, skeletal muscle


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