QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Chawla, R. K. Articles by Wadsworth, A. D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Chawla, R. K. Articles by Wadsworth, A. D.

Efficiency of -Ketoisocaproic Acid as a Substitute for Leucine in the Diet of the Growing Rat¹

Departments of Surgery and Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30322

Immature male albino rats (70–80 g), eating a diet furnishing all nutrients for optimal growth and containing 84.6 µmoles of leucine/g, gained weight at an average rate of 5.9 g/day. Removal of leucine caused an average daily weight loss of 1.3 g. Addition of leucine to the diet in graduated amounts corrected this weight loss, the improvement in body weight (BW) being proportional to the dietary content of leucine. Addition of -ketoisocaproic acid in place of leucine to the leucinefree diet also prevented loss of BW. Percentage efficiency of -ketoisocaproic acid as a dietary substitute for leucine was calculated as:
Efficiency of such substitution varied from 27% for a diet containing 84.6 µmoles of -ketoisocaproic acid/g to 20% for a diet containing 169.2 µmoles of -ketoisocaproic acid/g.

KEY WORDS: • leucine • -ketoisocaproic acid • essential amino acids • -keto acids

¹ This investigation was supported by U.S. Public Health Service Grants AM 15736 and RR 00039.

Manuscript received 10 February 1975.