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Value of Serum Transthyretin Measurements in the Assessment of Marginal Protein-Energy Malnutrition in Rats¹

Salimata Wade, Fanny Bleiberg-Daniel, Béatrice Le Moullac, Damien Iyakaremye, Daniel Biou^*, Francis Gauthier and Daniel Lemonnier

INSERM U1 Unité de Recherches sur la Nutrition et l'Alimentation, Hôpital Bichat, 75877 Paris Cedex 18, France ^* Laboratoire de Biochimie ERA CNRS 396, 92290 Châtenay-Malabry, France Laboratoire de Biochimie, Tours, France

The influence of a wide range of protein and/or energy intakes on the serum level of rat transthyretin was studied. Young and adult rats were fed ad libitum diets containing 18, 9, 6, 4 and 0.5% protein (wt/wt) or were fed a control diet in restricted amounts. The transthyretin level was lower in young rats and was normal or slightly higher in adult rats fed low protein diets than in those fed the 18% protein diet. It was decreased with decreasing energy intake in all energy-restricted rats. Moderate energy restriction in rats fed equivalent amounts of protein also lowered the transthyretin level. Rats with similar body weights and similar protein intakes showed marked differences in serum transthyretin level, depending on the amount of energy consumed. Serum transthyretin changes were discussed in relation to the level of transthyretin in cerebrospinal fluid and to the serum concentration of albumin, transferrin and thyroid hormones. The results show that serum transthyretin is more closely related to the protein and energy intakes than to the protein and energy content of the diet. Our results indicate that serum transthyretin measurement is a reliable marker in the detection of early moderate and severe protein-energy restriction.

KEY WORDS: • rat serum transthyretin • cerebrospinal fluid transthyretin • albumin • transferrin • total and free thyroid hormones

¹ A preliminary report of this work was presented at the Second Journées Internationales du GERM, Brighton, UK, August 15–18, 1985.

Manuscript received 11 May 1987. Revision accepted 15 April 1988.

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