Effect of diet-induced obesity on kinetic parameters of amino acid uptake by rat erythrocytes.

The effects of cafeteria diet-induced obesity upon in vitro uptake of L-Alanine, Glycine, L-Lysine, L-Glutamine, L-Glutamic acid, L-Phenylalanine and L-Leucine by isolated rat erythrocytes have been studied. The total Phe and Leu uptakes followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The Glu uptake was fitted to diffusion kinetics. The uptakes of Ala, Gly, Lys and Gln were best explained by a two-component transport: one saturable and one diffusion. Obesity increased the Km value for Ala, Gln and Leu, and the Vmax value for Ala, but decreased the Vmax for Lys. Kinetic parameters of Phe uptake were unaffected by obesity. In addition, the pseudo-first order rate constant (Vmax/Km) for Ala, Gly, Gln, Lys and Leu uptake decreased as a result of cafeteria diet-induced obesity. The Kd value for Ala, Gly, Gln and Glu decreased and that of Lys increased as result of obesity. These adaptations could, at least in part, explain alterations in amino acid distribution between blood cells and plasma related to overfeeding or obesity.