Time course of enzyme adaptation. 3. Periodic and nonperiodic responses of rat liver enzyme activities to diets in meal-fed rats.

Abstract

Enzymes associated with carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism as well as other liver constituents were studied in rats meal-fed, daily for 60 min, diets consisting of corn oil, salt, and vitamins plus 75% carbohydrate and 15% casein or a 90% casein diet. Relative liver size and the levels of liver glycogen and total and soluble liver protein were subject to periodic variation after the ingestion of a meal. They reached maximums about 6–12 h after the meal and then declined. In the rats fed the 90% casein diet the onset of increases was delayed after the first meal.The activity of glucose-6-phosphatase was increased by a fructose diet and the high-protein diet, but no periodicity was observed. The activities of fructose-1, 6-diphosphatase, dihydroxyacetone kinase, and malic enzyme were not subject to periodic variation, and these enzymes were not increased by the fructose or high-protein diets. Serine dehydrase activity was increased by the high-protein diet, but the question of periodicity cannot be resolved with the available data.The tyrosine–α-ketoglutarate transaminase activity in rats fed a 75% glucose – 15% casein diet was subject to periodic variation. Maximum activity occurred just before feeding, and minimum activity 12 h after feeding. In the rats fed the 90% casein diet the activity of the enzyme was considerably increased, and was already maximum 3 h after the meal. The activity then decreased to a relatively high minimum 12 h after the meal, at which time it began to increase again.The activities of pyruvate kinase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and phosphohexose isomerase were all subject to periodicity in the glucose-fed rats. In the rats fed the high-protein diet, there was a periodic response in activity of both pyruvate kinase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase after the first meal; but enzyme activity remained minimum after the second meal. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and phosphohexose isomerase activities were increased after three meals of the fructose diet, and were higher than in glucose-fed rats even 24 h after a meal. Maximum activity of these three enzymes occurred 12 h after the meal. There was only small periodicity in the activity of glutamic–pyruvic transaminase. The activity of this enzyme was increased by the high-protein diet and also by the high-fructose diet, although the latter effect was only temporary. The possible importance of certain types of adaptations in meal-fed rats was discussed in connection with physiological requirements.