Effect of amino acid meals on hepatic alpha-aminoisobutyrate transport and cyclic AMP.

Within 1.5 h after force-feeding rats one meal of enzymatic hydrolysates of casein, gelatin, lactalbumin, or yeast, alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) transport in liver slices was stimulated two- to threefold. A complete amino acid mixture also increased AIB transport. Of the 15 amino acids or derivatives tested individually, the dispensable amino acids, especially glycine and alanine, were more stimulatory than the essential amino acids; feeding a mixture of amino acids lacking glycine and alanine increased AIB uptake only slightly. The effects were significantly greater in meal-fed than in ad libitum-fed rats. Increased hepatic concentrations of cyclic AM were usually associated with the increase in AIB transport. Feeding glucose inhibited the increases in transport and cyclic AMP concentration induced by casein hydrolysate or in the stimulation of AIB transport by dietary amino acids. The increases in AIB uptake appeared unrelated to the exchange of endogenous amino acids with medium AIB.