Hepatic glucose production from L-alanine is absent in perfused liver of diabetic rats.

The effects of L-alanine on hepatic glucose production in diabetic rats and the corresponding controls was investigated. Diabetes was obtained with an injection iv of streptozotocin (STZ) or alloxan. Livers from diabetic and control rats after 24 hours of fasting were perfused in situ and glucose production from L-alanine and several gluconeogenic substrates were measured. Hepatic gluconeogenesis from L-alanine was absent in rats with diabetes induced by STZ or alloxan. STZ-diabetic rats also shown this metabolic change when the period of diabetes was prolonged. It was concluded that this effect may be partly at least, the consequence of an increased NADH/NAD+ ratio in the diabetic rat liver, which indicates that the cytosolic redox potential is favorable to pyruvate conversion to L-lactate but not to glucose. However, considering that glucose production from pyruvate, L-lactate, glycerol and sorbitol was not affected by the diabetic condition, the rate of conversion of L-alanine to pyruvate can contribute to the lack of gluconeogenesis when this amino acid was employed as a substrate.