Nitrogen in dietary glutamate is utilized exclusively for the synthesis of amino acids in the rat intestine.

Although previous studies have shown that virtually the entire carbon skeleton of dietary glutamate (glutamate-C) is metabolized in the gut for energy production and amino acid synthesis, little is known regarding the fate of dietary glutamate nitrogen (glutamate-N). In this study, we hypothesized that dietary glutamate-N is an effective nitrogen source for amino acid synthesis and investigated the fate of dietary glutamate-N using [(15)N]glutamate. Fischer male rats were given hourly meals containing [U-(13)C]- or [(15)N]glutamate. The concentration and isotopic enrichment of several amino acids were measured after 0-9 h of feeding, and the net release of each amino acid into the portal vein was calculated. Most of the dietary glutamate-C was metabolized into CO(2), lactate, or alanine (56, 13, and 12% of the dietary input, respectively) in the portal drained viscera (PDV). Most of the glutamate-N was utilized for the synthesis of other amino acids such as alanine and citrulline (75 and 3% of dietary input, respectively) in the PDV, and only minor amounts were released into the portal vein in the form of ammonia and glutamate (2 and 3% of the dietary input, respectively). Substantial incorporation of (15)N into systemic amino acids such as alanine, glutamine, and proline, amino acids of the urea cycle, and branched-chain amino acids was also evident. These results provide quantitative evidence that dietary glutamate-N distributes extensively to amino acids synthesized in the PDV and, consequently, to circulating amino acids.