Metabolic evidence for adaptation to a high protein diet in rats

This study was designed to assess the effects of long-term adaptation to a high protein diet on energy intake, body weight gain, body composition and splanchnic metabolic indicators in rats. For this purpose, adult male Wistar rats were fed either a 50 g/100 g dry matter (DM) protein diet (P50 group) or a 14 g/100 g DM protein diet (P14 group) for 21 d. These two groups were compared with a P14 pair-fed (P14-pf) group that consumed the same daily energy as the P50 group. The energy intake of the P50 group was 16 +/- 1% less than that of the P14 group (P < 0.05), and the P50 group had significantly lower body weight. The P50 group had significantly less adipose tissue compared with both P14 and P14-pf rats. The activities of the brush border membrane enzymes, neutral aminopeptidase and gamma-glutamyl transferase, were significantly higher in the P50 group than in the P14 rats. Similarly, the activities of alanine aminotransferase, arginase and serine dehydratase were significantly higher in the liver of P50 rats compared with P14 rats. Both amino acid transporter system A and X(A,G-) activities, measured in freshly isolated hepatocytes, were significantly higher in the P50 group (8- and 1.5-fold, P < 0.05, respectively) compared with the P14 group. The 1.5-fold increase in the steady-state activity of X(A,G-) was accompanied by a doubling of EAAT2 mRNA, involved in the system X(A,G-). This study provides confirmation that specific biochemical and molecular adaptive processes of the splanchnic area are involved in the response to variations in the protein content of the diet.