Dietary regulation of liver and muscle transport of amino acid.

Distribution ratios (intracellular concn/extracellular concn) of alpha-amino isobutyric acid (AIB) after intravenous injection were determined in fed, 12-h, 1-day, and 5-day starved rats. Progressive increases (over fourfold) in the distribution ratios of AIB in the liver and progressive decreases (over threefold) in the gastrocnemius muscle occurred within these periods. On full day of protein deprivation was without effect on AIB distribution ratios, but after 5 days it produced an increased distribution ratio of AIB in the liver (twofold), without affecting that of the muscle. A sudden increase in hepatic glucose output, induced by phlorizin, was followed by an increase in the liver distribution ratio of AIB. In starvation the increase in plasma concentration of glucagon and decrease in insulin level preceded the changes in AIB distribution ratios; in protein deprivation there was no change in plasma concentrations of these hormones. It is concluded that caloric restriction profoundly affects amino acid transport by the liver and by the skeletal muscle. These transport changes would enhance the availability of substrates for increased gluconeogenesis during starvation.