The administration of lipopolysaccharide, in vivo, induces alteration in L-leucine intestinal absorption.

The objective of the present study was to determine the alterations in L-leucine intestinal uptake by intravenous administration of Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is a constituent of gram negative bacterial, causative agent of sepsis. The amino acid absorption in LPS treated rabbits was reduced compared to the control animals. The LPS effect on the amino acid uptake was due to an inhibition of the Na+-dependent system of transport, through both reduction of the apparent capacity transport (Vmax) and diminution of the Na+/K-ATPase activity. The results have also shown that the LPS decreases the mucosal to serosal transepithelial flux and the transport across brush border membrane vesicles of L-leucine. The study of possible intracellular mechanisms implicated in the LPS effect, showed that the second messengers calcium, protein kinase C and c-AMP did not play any role in this effect. However, the absence of ion chloride in the incubation medium removes the LPS inhibition and the intracellular tissue water was affected by the LPS treatment. Therefore, the inhibition in the L-leucine intestinal absorption, by intravenous administration of LPS, could be mainly produced by the secretagogue action of this endotoxin on the gut.