The effects of methylprednisolone and diabetes on the turnover of alanine and on the transfer of carbon atoms from alanine to pyruvate and glucose in dogs

Abstract

The turnover rate of glucose, the irreversible disposal rate of alanine, and the transfer of carbon atoms from alanine to glucose were studied with the help of tracer methods in normal, methylprednisolone (MP) treated and pancreatectomized dogs. The incorporation of carbon from alanine into pyruvate was also followed. In comparison with normal dogs, in MP-treated dogs the plasma level of alanine and pyruvate were elevated by a factor of about 3 whereas the level of plasma glucose was increased by 10%. Both the turnover rate of glucose and the irreversible disposal rate of alanine were significantly higher. In pancreatectomized dogs plasma alanine and pyruvate levels were not different from normal. There was no increase in the irreversible disposal rate of alanine. Glucose turnover was about twice as much as in normals. The transfer of C atoms from alanine to glucose was increased in both MP-treated and pancreatectomized dogs. The increase was in direct proportion to the increase in the irreversible disposal rate of alanine in MP-treated dogs whereas in pancreatectomized dogs it was due to an increased fraction of the irreversible disposal rate of alanine being converted to circulating glucose. Thus two different mechanisms are responsible for the increased carbon transfer and hence presumably gluconeogenesis in MP-treated and in pancreatectomized animals. The role of insulin as the determinant of the preferred route to increase gluconeogenesis is discussed.