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Growth and liver enzyme response in growing rats to graded levels of methionine and cystine in fortified-barley diets: Response at constant cystine concentration in the diet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

T. N. Ngwira
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1W5, Canada
R. M. Beames
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1W5, Canada
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Abstract

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1. Thirty-six male rats of initial age 27 d were fed on diets based on barley grain for 3 weeks. Crude protein (nitrogen × 6.25) was fixed at 120.0 g/kg dry matter (dm) and cystine at 2.0 g/kg dm in all diets. The basal diet contained 3.5 g methionine plus cystine/kg dm with l-methionine added in increments of 0.5 g/kg dm up to a final level of 7.0 g methionine plus cystine/kg dm. A ‘positive control’ diet of barley plus 193.7 g soya-bean meal/kg dm contained 6.0 g methionine plus cystine/kg dm.

2. Weight gain, food conversion efficiency (FCE), urinary urea-N excretion, carcass composition and activities of liver cystathionine synthase (EC 4.2.1.22) and N5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine-methyltransferase (EC 2.1.1.13) were determined.

3. Weight gain, FCE and urinary urea-N excretion indicated that levels of 3.5 and 4.0 g methionine plus cystine/kg dm were inadequate for optimal growth of the rats. These variables indicated 4.7 g/kg dm to be the requirement for methionine plus cystine. Carcass composition results gave no clear indication of optimal requirements for methionine plus cystine.

4. Cystathionine synthase and N5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine-methyltransferase activities (/mg protein per 60 min) were constant at 24.32 μmol and 0.64 μmol respectively, when methionine plus cystine level was between 3.5 and 5.0 g/kg dm. Cystathionine synthase was then inhibited at the 6.0 g/kg dm level to a minimum activity of 16.12 μmol/mg protein per 60 min, whereas activity of the re-methylation enzyme increased to a maximum level of 2.92 μmol/mg protein per 60 min at the 6.0 g/kg dm level of methionine plus cystine. At the levels of methionine plus cystine above 6.0 g/kg dm cystathionine synthase activity increased while the activity of N5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine-methyltransferase decreased.

Type
Papers on General Nutrition
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1978

References

Abernathy, R. P. & Miller, J. (1965). J. Nutr. 86, 231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar