Supplemental essential amino acids augment the somatomedin-C/insulin-like growth factor I response to refeeding after fasting.

Plasma somatomedin-C (Sm-C)/insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) concentrations have been shown to reflect changes in nitrogen balance induced by manipulation of nutrient intake. To assess the Sm-C/IGF-I response to refeeding a protein restricted diet in which the nitrogen source was supplemented with essential amino acids, six normal adults were fasted for five days, then refed for nine days diets consisting of 35 kcals/kg and 0.48 g protein/kg body weight. In one diet, 80% of the nitrogen was supplied as essential amino acids, and in the other, 80% was supplied as nonessential amino acids. Following the first fast/refeed cycle, a control diet was eaten for two weeks before the fast was repeated and the other test diet was ingested. The refeeding diets were given a random order. Plasma Sm-C/IGF-I fell from a pre-fast mean of 1.64 +/- 0.24 U/mL (mean +/- 1 SEM) to 0.67 +/- 0.18 (P less than 0.001) following fasting, and rose to 1.41 +/- 0.19 U/mL (P less than 0.001) following ingestion of the diet with supplemental essential amino acids. In contrast, when the same subjects were refed a diet in which 80% of the nitrogen was in the form of nonessential amino acids, the plasma Sm-C/IGF-I concentrations rose from 0.74 +/- 0.17 to 1.15 +/- 0.15 U/mL (P less than 0.01). This increase was significantly less than that observed after ingestion of the essential amino acid supplemented diet (0.74 +/- 0.10 U/mL v 0.40 +/- 0.11 U/mL; P less than 0.02).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)