Splanchnic sequestration of amino acids in aged rats: in vivo and ex vivo experiments using a model of isolated perfused liver

2008 ◽  
Vol 294 (3) ◽  
pp. R748-R755 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Jourdan ◽  
L. Cynober ◽  
C. Moinard ◽  
M. C. Blanc ◽  
N. Neveux ◽  
...  

Splanchnic sequestration of amino acids (SSAA) is a process observed during aging that leads to decreased peripheral amino acid (AA) availability. The mechanisms underlying SSAA remain unknown. The aim of the present study was to determine whether a high-protein diet could increase nitrogen retention in aged rats by saturating SSAA and whether SSAA could be explained by dysregulation of hepatic nitrogen metabolism. Adult and aged male Sprague-Dawley rats were housed in individual metabolic cages and fed a normal-protein (17% protein) or high-protein diet (27%) for 2 wk. Nitrogen balance (NB) was calculated daily. On day 14, livers were isolated and perfused for 90 min to study AA and urea fluxes. NB was lower in aged rats fed a normal-protein diet than in adults, but a high-protein diet restored NB to adult levels. Isolated perfused livers from aged rats showed decreased urea production and arginine uptake, together with a release of alanine (vs. uptake in adult rats) and a hepatic accumulation of alanine. The in vivo data suggest that SSAA is a saturable process that responds to an increase in dietary protein content. The hepatic metabolism of AA in aged rats is greatly modified, and urea production decreases. This result refutes the hypothesis that SSAA is associated with an increase in AA disposal via urea production.

1990 ◽  
Vol 259 (5) ◽  
pp. E614-E625 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Fafournoux ◽  
C. Remesy ◽  
C. Demigne

The aim of the present work was to evaluate in vivo the role of the transport step in hepatic amino acid metabolism. To vary hepatic utilization of amino acids, rats were adapted to diets containing various concentrations of casein (5, 15, and 60%). In rats fed 5 or 15% casein diets, Gln and Glu were released by the liver, and there was a significant uptake of Ala. Hepatic fluxes of amino acids increased considerably after adaptation to high-casein diet (up to 1.55 mumol.min-1.g liver-1 for Ala), because of the rise in afferent concentrations as well as enhanced uptake percentage (peaking at 60–75% for most glucogenic amino acids). Adaptation to a high-protein diet led to induction of not only system A but also of most of the other transport systems (Gly, anionic, T, y+, and to a lesser extent system N); only systems ASC and L were unchanged. The study of amino acid repartition between liver and plasma with different diets indicates that transport could modulate utilization of Ala, Ser, Thr, Gly, Gln, and Asp. For Arg and Asn, present in very low concentrations in liver under any condition, the transport step should be the major locus of control of their metabolism. For amino acids chiefly transported by nonconcentrative systems, such as aromatic amino acids, cellular metabolism could also be limited by the transport process. In conclusion, during adaptation to a high-protein diet, there is apparently a coordinated adaptation of amino acid transport and of their intracellular metabolism. For some amino acids, induction of catabolic enzymes seems greater than that of transport, so that the transport step may play an important role in control of metabolic fluxes. For example, concentration of amino acids such as Thr may be markedly depressed in rats adapted to a high-protein diet.


1982 ◽  
Vol 206 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Fafournoux ◽  
C Rémésy ◽  
C Demigné

After adaptation of rats to a 90%-casein diet, hepatic uptake of alanine is strikingly increased in vivo, with concomitant appearance of a concentration of favourable for uptake. With a high-protein diet, uptake of 2-aminoisobutyrate by isolated hepatocytes in the presence of various concentrations of substrates suggested induction of the A system (high-affinity system), whose emergence has been reported during starvation or after glucagon treatment. The other system (ASC, L) were characterized: induction processes only affected the A system. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP addition resulted in an increase in 2-aminoisobutyrate transport at low substrate concentration, the response being greater after adaptation to a high-protein diet. Evidence is presented suggesting that the increased uptake of amino acids by the liver of rats fed on high-protein diets is obtained by developing favourable gradients and enhancing transport capacities. These adaptations allow sufficient amounts of amino acids to enter the liver, where accelerated metabolism plays a decisive role.


1997 ◽  
pp. 701-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Blackburn ◽  
RA Dressendorfer ◽  
WF Blum ◽  
M Erhard ◽  
G Brem ◽  
...  

To study interactions between insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II) and growth hormone (GH) in vivo, we crossed hemizygous transgenic mice carrying phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK)-IGF-II fusion genes with hemizygous PEPCK-bovine GH (bGH) transgenic mice. Offspring harbouring both transgenes (IB), the IGF-II transgene (I) or the bGH transgene (B), and non-transgenic littermates (C) were obtained. Blood samples were taken before (end of week 12) and after (end of week 14) the mice had received a diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates to stimulate PEPCK promoter-controlled transgene expression. Mean serum GH concentrations of both B and IB mice corresponded to 900 ng/ml and increased more than twofold (P < 0.001) after 1 week of the high-protein diet. GH concentrations in controls and I mice were less than 20 ng/ml. Serum IGF-II concentrations in I and IB mice were three-to fourfold higher than those in C and B mice. Whereas IGF-II concentrations were not changed by the high-protein diet in the last two groups, serum IGF-II increased significantly in I (P < 0.001) and IB mice (P < 0.05). This increase was significantly (P < 0.05) less pronounced in IB than in C and I mice. Circulating IGF-I concentrations were about twofold (P < 0.001) higher in B and IB than in C and I mice, and showed a tendency to be lower in I than in C and in IB than in B mice when animals were maintained on the standard diet. The high-protein diet did not change circulating IGF-I concentrations in controls and B mice, but resulted in a significant reduction of serum IGF-I concentrations in I (P < 0.05) and IB mice (P < 0.001). Consequently, after PEPCK-IGF-II transgene expression was stimulated, serum IGF-I concentrations were significantly (P < 0.05) lower in I than in C and in IB than in B mice. Serum IGF-binding protein (IGFBP)-2 concentrations were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in I mice than in all other groups when mice were maintained on the standard diet, with a tendency to reduced IGFBP-2 concentrations in B mice. After the high-protein diet, serum IGFBP-2 concentrations did not change in C and I mice, but increased by two- to threefold in B and IB mice (P < 0.001). Serum IGFBP-3 concentrations tended to be greater in B and IB than in C and I mice, but these differences were mostly not significant. IGFBP-4 concentrations were significantly (P < 0.001) increased by GH overproduction in B and IB mice. Our data suggest that the reduction in circulating IGF-I concentrations by increased IGF-II is most probably due to the limited serum IGF binding capacity and the short half-life of free IGFs, rather than to a reduction in GH-dependent IGF-I production. Effects of GH overproduction on serum IGFBP-2 concentrations depend on dietary factors and may be both inhibitory and stimulatory.


Nutrition ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 364-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Shen ◽  
Hong Xu ◽  
Li-Ming Wei ◽  
Jing Chen ◽  
Hai-Mei Liu

2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 190 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.K. Gardner ◽  
K.S. Stilley ◽  
M. Lane

Ammonium is known to adversely affect the development of mouse embryos in culture. Specifically, ammonium has been found to impair inner cell (ICM) mass formation, increase apoptosis, retard fetal development following embryo transfer and induce exencephaly. Significantly, high protein diets in cattle lead to reduced fecundity. This has been linked to elevated urea levels within fluid of the female tract. In this study we have determined the effects of a high protein diet for mice on the levels of ammonium within the female tract and the effects of such a diet on the development and viability of blastocysts developed in vivo. Outbred mice (CF1) were fed a diet of either 25% (high protein) or 14% (control) protein for 4 weeks. Females were superovulated and mated to males of the same strain. In 24 mice, oviduct fluid was collected at 22h post hCG. Ammonium in the oviduct fluid was then quantitated fluorometrically. From other animals, blastocysts were flushed 92h post hCG and analyzed. Blastocyst differentiation and apoptotic indices were determined. Values are mean±SEM. Data were analysed using Student’s t-test. The levels of ammonium in the oviduct were significantly higher (P&lt;0.01) in females fed the high protein diet (356±43μM) compared to the control (68±13μM) (n=12 in each group). Blastocysts (n=139) from females fed the high protein diet had significantly lower total (43.4±1.1; P&lt;0.05) and ICM cell numbers (12.7±0.4; P&lt;0.01), compared to the control group (46.8±0.9 and 15.4±0.4 respectively; n=124). Furthermore, blastocysts from animals fed a high protein diet had a significantly higher apoptotic index (8.7±1.4; P&lt;0.01) compared to the control group (2.0±0.5). These data show that consumption of a high protein diet results in the excess accumulation of ammonium in the fluid of the female reproductive tract of mice. These high levels of ammonium subsequently impair the formation of the fetal progenitor cells and increase cell death at the blastocyst stage. These data from in vivo-developed mouse blastocysts are similar to those for blastocysts developed in culture in the presence of 300μM ammonium. Therefore, it is not advisable to maintain mice on a high protein diet. These data have significant implications for animal breeding, and for patients attempting IVF treatment.


1979 ◽  
Vol 50 (8) ◽  
pp. 582-591
Author(s):  
Toshio MIZUNO ◽  
Koji AMANO ◽  
Keizo ONO ◽  
Yuzo HIKAMI ◽  
Shin HASEGAWA

Pteridines ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 235-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Carty ◽  
Edel Beirne ◽  
John Donlon

SummaryThe effects of a diet of 85% casein on the activities of the phenylalanine hydroxylases of rat liver and kidney have been compared. Whereas only the tetrahydrobiopterin-dependent activity of rat hepatic phenylalanine hydroxylase is significantly stimulated, both the tetrahydrobiopterin-dependent and the dimethyltetrahydropterin- dependent activities of the renal enzyme are significantly decreased, after five days of feeding a casein diet. The animals fed a high protein diet for seven days have an increased rate of phenylalanine catabolism in vivo, which is also reflected in increased flux of label from phenylalanine into glucose. The regulation of phenylalanine metabolism, under these conditions, is discussed.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document