Abstract
Stability of brain total free pools of indispensable amino acids (IAA) of rats with widely differing intakes of good quality protein is impressive. For example, protein intakes of young rats that were fed for 4 hr diets containing from 5 to 55% of casein, ranged from 0.4 to 3.9 g/100 g body weight, a 7.5-fold difference. Plasma total IAA concentrations reflected these differences in protein intake and ranged from 1.3 to 5.5 µmol/ml, a 4.5-fold difference. At the same time, brain IAA concentrations differed by only 32%, ranging from 1.5 to 2.1 µmol/g brain (1). Coefficients of variation of fasting brain IAA concentrations are about ± 20%. This degree of stability in concentrations of blood constituents, e. g. glucose or sodium, is usually maintained only through actions of specific and highly responsive regulatory systems.
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Harper, A.E., Tews, J.K. (1988). Nutritional & Metabolic Control of Brain Amino Acid Concentrations. In: Huether, G. (eds) Amino Acid Availability and Brain Function in Health and Disease. NATO ASI Series, vol 20. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73175-4_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73175-4_1
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