Response of the liver to protein feeding

[Dynamics of amino acid and protein metabolism of laying hens after administration of 15N-labeled wheat protein. 5. Incorporation of 15N into the blood fraction and its amino acids]

12 colostomized laying hens which received 15N labelled wheat over 4 days were butchered 12 h, 36 h, 60 h and 108 h (3 animals each) after the last 15N application. The intake of 15N excess (15N') from the wheat amounted to 540 mg 15N' during the application period. The 15N' in the blood plasma decreased after the last 15N' application from 0.76 atom-% to 0.55 atom-% after 108 h, the labelling of the corpuscular components at the same measuring points increased from 0.28 to 0.50 atom-% 15N'. 96.6% of the plasma 15N' and 93.8% of that in the corpuscles is precipitable in trichloric acetic acid. The atom-% 15N' of histidine in the total blood remained unchanged in dependence on the butchering time. The 15N amount in lysine and arginine and that in the non-basic amino acids decreased inconsiderably in the period between 12 h and 108 h after the last 15N' wheat feeding.

Studies on the persistence of differentiated functions in rat hepatocytes set into primary tissue culture. II. Production of specific exportable proteins and the effect of purine cyclic nucleotides: an immunofluorescent study

Immunofluorescent studies showed that even after 15 days in vitro primary neonatal rat hepatocytes contained in their cytoplasm detectable amounts of different adult rat serum proteins, including fibrinogen and proalbumin. Estimation of the intensity of specific fluorescence revealed that in untreated cultures the hepatocytic content of the various exportable antigens progressively diminished between the 5th and 15th day in vitro. Treatment with cAMP (10(-5) M daily) alone increased in hepatocytic cytoplasm, with respect to parallel controls, the content of total exportable proteins and of proalbumin. Daily administration of an equimolar association (10(-5) M) of cAMP with cGMP increased the total protein, proalbumin and fibrinogen content of hepatocytes. Daily treatment with cGMP (10(-5) M) alone caused only light and transitory increases in the content of proalbumin and fibrinogen. Rocket immune electrophoresis showed that the hepatocytic secretion of specific proteins into the growth medium persisted up to the 15th day, although progressively diminishing in intensity. The secretion of total exportable proteins and of albumin, but not of fibrinogen, was stimulated by cGMP used alone or coupled with equimolar cAMP.

Nitrogen metabolism in calves: Effect of giving different amounts of dietary casein with and without formaldehyde treatment

1. Calves were given a basal diet of straw and flaked maize (12 g nitrogen/kg dry matter (DM)) or diets with some flaked maize replaced by untreated (UT) casein or formaldehyde-treated (FT) casein to give 19, 26 or 34 g N/kg DM.

2. At all intakes rumen ammonia concentrations were lower and amounts of total-N, non-ammonia-N and amino acid-N entering the duodenum were higher when FT-rather than UT-casein supplements were given.

3. Direct measurement of casein entering the duodenum indicated that giving FT rather than UT casein led to much greater amounts of dietary casein escaping degradation in the rumen (70–90% compared to 10–20%). Calculated values for fermentable N indicated that with this low degradability diets containing FT-casein would have provided inadequate N for maximum microbial synthesis in the rumen, and this probably accounted for the marked reduction in amounts of non-casein-N entering the duodenum when FT rather than UT casein was given.

4. Amino acid patterns in duodenal digesta samples after giving the basal diet or diets containing UT-casein were similar. Giving diets containing FT-casein led to changes in this pattern which could sometimes, although not always, be accounted for by estimated differences in proportions of dietary and microbial proteins.

5. At the highest level of N intake FT-casein-supplemented diets led to significantly higher concentrations of most essential amino acids and lower concentrations of most non-essential amino acids in plasma than did UT-casein-supplemented diets. Plasma urea concentrations increased with increasing N intake but were not significantly different for UT- and FT-casein-supplemented diets.

[Resorption and incorporation of radioactive-labeled amino acids during administration of various protein carriers in rats. 3. Uptake of radioactivity by blood plasma, liver and muscular tissue and incorporation into tissue proteins after intragastric administration of 14C-leucine and 3H-glycine]

Growing male rats received diets of varying biological value (protein sources: powdered whole egg (V); fish meal (F); yeast (H); gelatine (G); protein-free diet (e)) for a 14-day feeding period. Subsequently, 14C leucine and 3H glycine were administered intragastrically. The level of uptake of 14C and 3H radioactivity into blood plasma, liver and muscular tissue and the rate of incorporation of the radioactive tracers into the proteins of these tissues was examined. A negative correlation was found to exist between the incorporation of radioactivity into liver proteins and the biological value of dietary proteins, the former being mainly dependent on the level of incorporation into the liver. For muscular proteins the rate of incorporation decreases with the decreasing biological value of the dietary proteins. This may be attributed to the fact that with poor protein nutrition the rate of protein synthesis in the skeletal muscles is also reduced. Comparative studies on the specific 14C radioactivity from free leucine made in the group on the protein-free diet and in the group receiving the whole egg diet showed that the leucine pool of the skeletal muscles was markedly redueced in animals fed a protein-deficient diet while the leucine pool in the liver remained comparatively constant.