Effect of glucose, independent of changes in insulin and glucagon secretion, on alanine metabolism in the conscious dog.

To study the effects of hyperglycemia on the metabolism of alanine and lactate independent of changes in plasma insulin and glucagon, glucose was infused into five 36-h-fasted dogs along with somatostatin and constant replacement amounts of both insulin and glucagon. Hepatic uptakes of alanine and lactate were calculated using the arteriovenous difference technique. [14C]Alanine was infused to measure the conversion of alanine and lactate into glucose. Hyperglycemia (delta 115 mg/dl) of 2 h duration caused the plasma alanine level to increase by over 50%. This change was caused by an increase in the inflow of alanine into plasma since the net hepatic uptake of the amino acid did not change. Taken together, the above findings indicate that glucose per se can significantly impair the fractional extraction of alanine by the liver. Hepatic extraction of lactate was also affected by hyperglycemia and had fallen to zero within 90 min of starting the glucose infusion. This fall was associated with a doubling of arterial lactate level. Conversion of [14C]-alanine and [14C]lactate into [14C]glucose was suppressed by 60 +/- 11% after 2 h of hyperglycemia, and because this fall could not be entirely accounted for by decreased lactate extraction an inhibitory effect of glucose on gluconeogenesis within the liver is suggested. These studies indicate that the plasma glucose level per se can be an important determinant of the level of alanine and lactate in plasma as well as the rate at which they are converted to glucose.