Kinetics of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-I are altered by dietary variables and suggest a metabolic need for supplemental carnitine in young pigs.

To examine the kinetics of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-I (CPT-I) and the influence of dietary variables, young pigs (18 kg, n = 20) were fed corn-soybean meal diets supplemented with 40 g soy oil/kg and containing either 136 or 180 g crude protein/kg and either 0 or 500 mg/kg L-carnitine (2 x 2 factorial design). Diets were offered for 10 d (85% of ad libitum); CPT-I activities in liver and skeletal muscle mitochondria were determined, and enzyme kinetic constants (V:(max) and K:(m) for carnitine) were estimated. Kinetics of CPT-I in muscle were not affected by diet (P: > 0.1; carnitine K:(m) = 480 +/- 44 micromol/L). In contrast, the K:(m) for carnitine in liver was increased from 164 to 216 +/- 20 micromol/L by dietary L-carnitine supplementation (P: < 0.01) and from 169 to 211 +/- 20 micromol/L by high protein feeding (P: < 0.05). Dietary L-carnitine increased muscle and liver free carnitine concentrations by 72 and 158% over control concentrations (770 and 80 micro;mol/kg wet muscle and liver, respectively). Because tissue carnitine concentrations were within the range of the respective K:(m) for both liver and muscle tissue, it is inferred that alteration of tissue carnitine concentrations via dietary supplementation could modulate CPT-I activity in young pigs.