Role of the plasma and erythrocytes in veno-arterial portal changes during post prandial state in the rat.

The determination of plasma and whole blood free amino acid concentrations in arterial and portal venous blood during post prandial state in the rat was used to estimate the role of the erythrocytes in amino acid exchanges. The erythrocyte contents were calculated from plasma, whole blood concentrations and the hematocrit. The veno-arterial concentration differences in plasma were significant for all amino acids except a-aminobutyrate and ornithine whereas in the erythrocytes only 8 amino acids exhibit significant differences (ASP, ALA, VAL, MET, ILE, LEU, TYR, PHE). For 6 amino acids, a significant correlation between the plasma and the erythrocyte concentration has been found (VAL, ILE, LEU, TYR, PHE, HIS). These data suggest that in vivo during the time of contact between blood and organ tissues, some amino acids but not all are significantly taken up by the erythrocytes. Thus, it may be concluded that erythrocyte amino acid blood transport in arterio-venous portal exchanges, concerns particularly tyrosine and essential amino acids. The erythrocyte amino acid transport represents quantitatively about 20 per cent of the total blood transport.