Threonine metabolism in Japanese quail liver.

In general, threonine is metabolized by reaction catalyzed by threonine-3-dehydrogenase (TDH), threonine dehydratase (TH) or threonine aldolase (TA). The activities of these three enzymes were compared in the liver of Japanese quails and rats. The animals were fed a standard or threonine rich-diet, or fasted for 3 days. The specific activity of TDH in the liver from quail fed a standard diet was 11 times higher than that in the liver from rats fed a standard diet. The TDH activities in the livers of the fasting and 5% threonine-rich diet groups of quail were 3 and 2 times higher than those in the livers from quail fed the standard diet, respectively. The TH activity in the liver of rats fed a standard diet was 14 times higher than that in the liver of quail fed a standard diet. The TH activity in the rat liver after fasting was 2.3 times higher than that of the standard diet control. The activity of TA in the livers of rat and quail were so low that its role in threonine metabolism in both animals seemed to be negligible. These results suggest that threonine is a ketogenic amino acid in the quail liver, while it is a glucogenic in the rat liver.