Modification of the effects of blood on amino acid metabolism by intravenous isoleucine.

The absence of isoleucine in the hemoglobin molecule has been suggested to contribute to increased urea production after a blood meal. To unravel the underlying mechanism, the effects of isoleucine infusion after blood ingestion in the healthy pig were studied. The isoleucine dose was chosen to induce an arterial isoleucine increase comparable to those observed for leucine or valine after blood ingestion. For the experiments, 10 female overnight-fasted pigs (20-25 kg) received 250 mL bovine erythrocytes intragastrically 1 week after catheter implantation for measuring hepatic, splanchnic, portal-drained viscera, and hindquarter fluxes of amino acids, urea, and ammonia. After the administration of erythrocytes, isoleucine or saline was administered i.v. for 6 hours. The data obtained show that the increase in arterial levels of urea and almost all amino acids was significantly greater in the control group (P less than 0.001) than in the isoleucine group. The net efflux of nearly all amino acids by the portal-drained viscera increased significantly less (P less than 0.001) in the isoleucine group. The liver uptake of amino acids increased after the blood meal, but the difference was not significant except for glutamine (P less than 0.001). Hindquarter amino acid net influx increased marginally. Splanchnic urea production increased more in the control group than in the isoleucine group (P less than 0.05). The data strongly suggest that i.v. administration of isoleucine enhanced the biological value of a blood meal, possibly by promoting amino acid retention in the portal drained viscera.