Circadian variations of liver free amino acid content in mixed-fed and protein-meal-fed rats.

Hepatic amino acid contents were determined at time-points regularly spaced over a light-dark cycle in rats fed either a 12% casein diet or a single daily meal given 2 hours after the onset of the light phase with a protein-free diet and libitum. In mixed-fed rats, non-essential amino acid hepatic content remained stable over 24 hours while that of essential amino acids rose during the early part of the night in connection with the onset of prandial activity, but long before portal levels increased. The possibility of factors related to food intake (insulin, glucagon, gastrointestinal hormones) or to its chronology (corticoids) stimulating active transport is discussed. In separately-fed rats, amino acid pools increased in the 30 minutes following protein administration in connection with rising portal levels. During the rest of the light phase, a general depletion of non-essential amino acids occurred. It was most rapid for glutamine, alanine and aspartic acid and was followed by accumulation during the night phase, a pattern fitting well with gluconeogenesis and ureogenesis stimulation following protein ingestion. Essential amino acid decrease was linear and spanned over both the light and dark phases in correlation with decreasing portal levels.