EFFECT OF DIETARY CARBOHYDRATE ON LIVER AND KIDNEY ENZYME-ACTIVITIES AND PLASMA AMINO-ACIDS IN THE LA/N-CP RAT

Twenty obese and 20 lean LA/N-cp male rats and 20 male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a diet containing either 54 percent sucrose or starch for six weeks. After a 14-16 hour fast, rats were killed. Liver and kidney enzyme activities were determined in the LA/N-cp rats while plasma urea and selected amino acids were determined in all rats. Liver glucose-6-phosphatase (G6PASE), fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPASE), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGDH), malic enzyme (ME), glucokinase (GK), pyruvate kinase (PK), phosphofructokinase (PFK), glutamic-oxaloacetic-transaminase (GOT), glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT), arginase (ARGASE), arginine-synthase (ARG-SYN) and ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) levels were significantly affected by phenotype (obese > lean). All the above changes in enzyme levels were exaggerated by sucrose-feeding with the exception of PK, PFK, GOT, GPT, ARGASE and ARG-SYN. Kidney cortex G6PASE, PEPCK and ARGASE activities were higher in the obese rats as compared to the lean littermates. Sucrose feeding resulted in higher cortex G6PASE, FBPASE and PEPCK as compared to starch-fed rats. A phenotype effect was noted with plasma glutamate, urea, leucine, isoleucine and valine (obese > lean) and a diet effect was seen with aspartate, phenylalanine, leucine and valine (sucrose > starch) concentration. Sprague-Dawley rats had higher plasma urea and lower alanine than lean LA/N-cp males. Metabolic obesity in the LA/N-cp rat appears to involve an elevated capacity for pathways of glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, lipogenesis and amino acid catabolism in the liver.