Influence of chronic renal failure on protein synthesis in rat liver and muscle

Protein-synthetic activity in the liver and muscle of rats with chronic renal failure (CRF) of 2 weeks' duration was studied by examining RNA/DNA ratios and polysome profiles and in vitro protein synthetic activity of isolated polysomes. CRF was found to cause differential effects on protein synthesis in the liver and muscle. In the liver, CRF caused impairment of protein synthesis only in the fed condition; CRF rats maintained the same "basal" protein synthetic activity as the sham-operated control rats upon 18 hours' starvation. In the muscle, the effect of CRF was manifested only in the starved condition; CRF caused extensive disaggregation of polysomes when animals were starved. It is proposed that the muscle serves as a "reserve" protein when animals sustain a protein-catabolic state such as CRF.