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Effect of Force-feeding a Valine-free Diet on Gastrointestinal Function of Rats

Laboratory of Nutritional Biochemistry, Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya, Japan

To study the effect of an essential amino acid deficiency on gastrointestinal functions, rats were force-fed a 10% amino acid diet devoid of valine for several days, and subsequently a complete amino acid diet. Force-feeding of the valine-free diet for a few days delayed the disappearance of dietary nitrogen from the gastrointestinal tract. A single feeding of the complete amino acid diet containing ¹⁴C-labeled amino acids or [¹⁴C]glucose to rats previously fed the valine-free diet did not improve disappearance of the nitrogen. The absorption of the dietary carbohydrate as well as dietary nitrogen was delayed after feeding the valine-free diet, but the delayed absorption of the dietary nitrogen was improved after 1 day of feeding of the complete amino acid diet to rats previously fed the valine-free diet. In spite of the delayed disappearance of dietary ¹⁴C-labeled amino acids or [¹⁴C]glucose from the gastrointestinal tract, the incorporation of these dietary ¹⁴C-labeled amino acids into liver lipids was not different between rats fed the complete amino acid diet and those fed the valine-free diet. Under these experimental conditions, changes in disaccharidase activities in the intestinal mucosa were in parallel with changes in the disappearance of nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract.

KEY WORDS: • valine • amino acid deficiency • gastrointestinal processing

Manuscript received 13 September 1974.