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 HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kari, F. W. Articles by Visek, W. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kari, F. W. Articles by Visek, W. J.

Arginine Requirement of Mature Protein-Mainourished Rats for Maximal Rate of Repletion¹

Schools of Basic Medical Sciences and Clinical Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801

Male Sprague-Dawley rats (initial weight 400 g) were fed a 0.5% lactalbumin diet containing required amounts of all other known essential nutrients for 14 weeks. The body weights averaged 250 g after depletion when the animals were randomly assigned to four groups of four or five. Rats of one group were killed for baseline analyses on day 0 of repletion. The remaining three groups were repleted for 14 days with a complete L-amino acid diet containing 20% protein equivalent and 0, 0.75 or 1.5% Arg · HCl. Daily feed intakes averaged 11, 15 and 17 g and daily weight gains were 3.3, 7.4 and 8.3 g, respectively. Average values for corresponding groups were: nitrogen balance—116, 187 and 190 mg/day; urinary orotate—4.6, 0.8 and 0.15 mg/day; carcass lipid—27, 37 and 40 g/100 g dry matter. Liver weights per 100 g body weight for 0 arginine exceeded other groups by 40%. There were no differences in creatinine index, nor in plasma concentrations of insulin, glucagon and albumin. The maximal rate of recovery from protein-calorie malnutrition of mature rats required an exogenous source of arginine. Urinary orotic acid excretion provided a reliable measure for determining when arginine needs for maximal rate of repletion were not met.

KEY WORDS: • arginine • protein-calorie malnutrition • orotic acid

¹ Supported by Environmental Toxicology Training Grant HEW PHS 07-001 and Grant HEW PHS CA 22326.

² Present address: Department of Nutrition, Rutgers University, Cook College, New Brunswick, NJ 08903.

³ Present address: Department of Physiology, Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, 1122 East 53rd St., Chicago, IL 60615.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. O. Ball, K. L. Urschel, and P. B. Pencharz Nutritional Consequences of Interspecies Differences in Arginine and Lysine Metabolism J. Nutr., June 1, 2007; 137(6): 1626S - 1641S. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. J. Kirk and A. Barbul Role of Arginine in Trauma, Sepsis, and Immunity JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr, September 1, 1990; 14(5_suppl): 226S - 229S. [PDF]

				H. Saito, O. Trocki, S.-l. Wang, S. J. Gonce, S. N. Joffe, and J. W. Alexander Metabolic and Immune Effects of Dietary Arginine Supplementation After Burn Arch Surg, July 1, 1987; 122(7): 784 - 789. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. Barbul Arginine: Biochemistry, Physiology, and Therapeutic Implications JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr, March 1, 1986; 10(2): 227 - 238. [PDF]