Table 1.

Incorporation of [³H]lysine and [¹⁴C]phenylalanine into brain and liver protein at 8 weeks after portacaval shunting

Amino acid and treatment	Body wt. (g)	TCA-soluble fraction (nCi/g wet wt./h)				Amino acid incorporation (pCi/mg dry wt. protein/h)
		Cerebral cortex		Liver		Cerebral cortex		Liver
[3H]Lysine			%		%		%		%
Controls	402 ± 15	162 ± 13 (47.3 ± 5.7)	100 (100)	960 ± 64 (748 ± 14)	100 (100)	83.3 ± 1.6	100	255.6 ± 50	100
PC-shunt	392 ± 50	139 ± 10 (38.6 ± 1.2)	86 (82)	2080 ± 250c (1801 ± 19c)	217 (241)	71.2 ± 6.7a	86	109.4 ± 12.8b	43
[14C]Phenylalanine
Controls	394 ± 10	2.81 ± 0.32	100	4.57 ± 1.01	100	14.4 ± 0.6	100	32.1 ± 6.8	100
PC-shunt	340 ± 60	5.18 ± 0.45c	184	8.87 ± 1.05b	194	11.2 ± 0.5b	78	46.8 ± 9.5	146

Control and 8-week portacaval (PC)-shunted rats were injected intraperitoneally with L-[3,4-³H(N)]lysine (10 mmol/kg, 50 µCi/mmol) or with L-[alanine-1-¹⁴C]phenylalanine (5 mmol/kg, 8.27 µCi/mmol) and killed 1h later. The trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-soluble fraction represents the label in the precursor pool; two values are listed for [³H]lysine, the total ³H in the acid-soluble fraction and the non-volatile fraction (in parentheses) that is assumed to represent mainly [³H]lysine (see Methods). Values are means ± SD (n = 6/group); percentages of respective control values were calculated with mean values.

^aP<0.05,

^bP<0.01,

^cP<0.001 vs. control (t-test).