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

This Article Full Text 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 Faure, M. Articles by Obled, C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Faure, M. Articles by Obled, C.

---

Nutrient Requirements and Optimal Nutrition

Threonine Utilization for Synthesis of Acute Phase Proteins, Intestinal Proteins, and Mucins Is Increased during Sepsis in Rats¹

² Nestlé Research Center, Nutrition and Health Department, Lausanne, Switzerland and ³ INRA, Clermont-Ferrand – Theix, UMR 1019 Unité de Nutrition Humaine, F-63122 Saint-Genès-Champanelle, France

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: magali.faure{at}rdls.nestle.com.

We hypothesized that the dietary threonine demand for the anabolic response may be increased more than that of other essential amino acids during sepsis. Using a flooding dose of either L-[1-¹³C]valine or L-[U-¹³C]threonine, we measured valine and threonine utilization for syntheses of plasma proteins (minus albumin), and wall, mucosal, and mucin proteins of the small intestine in infected (INF; d 2 and d 6 of postinfection) and control pair-fed (PF) rats. At d 2, the protein absolute synthesis rate (ASR) of INF rats was 21% (mucins) to 41% (intestinal wall) greater than that of PF when measured using valine as tracer, and 45% (mucosa) to 113% (mucins) greater than that of PF when measured with threonine as tracer. Plasma protein ASR was higher in INF than in PF rats, reaching 5- to 6-fold the value of PF. The utilization of both amino acid tracers for the protein synthesis was significantly increased by the infection in all compartments studied. The daily increased absolute threonine utilization for protein synthesis in gut wall plus plasma proteins was 446 µmol/d compared with 365 µmol/d for valine, and it represented 2.6 times the dietary threonine intake of rats at d 2. Most changes in protein ASR and threonine utilization observed at d 6 of postinfection were limited. In conclusion, sepsis increased the utilization of threonine for the anabolic splanchnic response. Because this threonine requirement is likely covered by muscle protein mobilization, increasing the threonine dietary supply would be an effective early nutritional management for patients with sepsis.