American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 6, 365-375, Copyright © 1958 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

The Acute Reduction in Plasma Amino Acids by Carbohydrate Infusion in Diabetes and Liver Disease

¹ From the Department of Metabolism, Division of Medicine, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D. C.

Plasma amino acids are reduced when glucose or fructose are infused into fasting normal men and dogs. Insulin or exercise, which by themselves lower plasma amino acids, do not further decrease plasma amino acids when superimposed upon carbohydrate infusion. Diabetic patients selected as likely to be insulin-deficient and normal dogs given large amounts of glucose to produce hyperglycemia demonstrated a normal fall. It is suggested that the fall in plasma amino acids is related to the increased rate of carbohydrate utilization and is largely independent of the level of blood sugar or the action of insulin. Choline-deficient dogs with fatty liver and approximately one-half of a diverse group of patients with liver disease responded abnormally.

These data indicate that intact hepatocellular function is necessary for the reduction of plasma amino acids following carbohydrate infusion and suggest that the liver is a major site of removal of amino acids from the plasma under these circumstances.