Abstract
A 28-day feeding study was conducted to test the effect of excess dietary lysine on rat growth and the concentration of copper, iron and zinc in plasma and liver. Young male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a 10% protein casein diet with or without excess lysine. There were no significant differences in body weight gain, food intake or plasma proteins among the dietary treatment groups. Supplementation of the basal diet with 2.1% L-lysine caused a 53% reduction in hepatic copper and a significant reduction in hepatic iron. The addition of 0.7% or 2.1% lysine to the basal diet caused significant reductions in levels of plasma copper. The 2.1% level of lysine tended to lower the concentration of zinc in plasma. The data suggest that lysine may interfere with the availability of selected minerals by reducing tissue utilization or promoting excretion, or both.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have