Changes in blood amino acids account for the insulin and glucagon responses to mixed meals in dogs.

The relationships between changes in the plasma levels of immunoreactive insulin (IRI) and glucagon (IRG) in response to the postprandial increments of circulating amino acids were studied under normal physiological conditions in healthy dogs. In the presence of a unique postprandial physiological euglycemic "glucose clamp" which occurs in these dogs, plasma IRG rose to an earlier peak than IRI and both remained elevated for 16-19 hr. Amino acid (AA) profiles also showed postprandial incremental responses for up to 16 hr. Multiple correlation analyses indicated that only branched chain AAs were significantly correlated with IRI profiles and were devoid of a relationship to IRG. Similarly, only ornithine, lysine and glycine were significantly correlated with IRG profiles and devoid of a relationship to IRI. The significance of individual IRG stimulating effects of alanine and arginine were masked by other amino acid interactions, as significant intercorrelation was found among all 13 amino acids. Two equations were derived from the multiple regression analysis accounting for the postprandial time course of changes in IRI and IRG levels with only 5 amino acid concentrations: (1) (delta IRI) = 0.37 (delta Leu) -0.45(delta His), and (2) (delta IRG) = 0.55(delta Orn) + 0.37(delta Gly) -0.69 (delta Ser). These observations confirm the physiologic role in islet hormone secretion of the postprandial increments in circulating amino acids in the absence of glycemic change.