Quantitation of metabolites of isolated chicken enterocytes using NMR spectroscopy

Isolated enterocytes prepared from chicken small intestine were studied by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Perchloric acid extracts of cells were prepared from duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, and concentrations of 19 different metabolites were determined after the virtually complete assignment of all peaks in the aliphatic region of the spectrum. High concentrations of serine ethanolamine phosphodiester (SEP), creatine, taurine, and acidic amino acids were found in all segment extracts. Relatively high concentrations of SEP (approximately 12 mM) and acidic amino acids (approximately 3.5 mM) were found in the ileum, whereas creatine (3 mM) and lactate (6.5 mM) were found at higher concentrations in jejunum. Taurine (approximately 8 mM), choline (0.5 mM), and betaine (approximately 0.5 mM) were evenly distributed throughout the segments. Fasting (40 h) led to substantial increases in the concentrations of pyruvate, succinate, SEP, and taurine, while neutral hydrophobic amino acid concentrations fell appreciably. The significance of the findings is discussed, and the possible contributions of SEP, taurine, and choline to membrane lipid homeostasis are considered.