UTILIZATION OF INJECTED L-ALANINE BY ADRENALECTOMIZED RATS1

Abstract

THE utilization of exogenous amino acids by fasted adrenalectomized rats has been studied by a number of investigators (Wells and Kendall, 1940; Evans, 1941; Samuels et al., 1937; Lewis et at., 1940) but interpretation of apparently contradictory results is complicated by the various procedures used. Cagan, Gray and Jensen (1950) administered casein hydrolysates intraperitoneally to adrenalectomized rats and found that there Avas a slower clearance of blood amino acids and urea than in normal animals but failed to find the expected increase in blood glucose. Moreover, unlike the case of the normal rats, the administered casein did not increase the liver amino acid oxidase of the adrenalectomized animals. The problem of amino acid utilization by adrenalectomized rats has now been restudied. The results which are reported here were obtained from experiments in which L-alanine was used, and in which alanine alone was measured, instead of total amino acid nitrogen. Short time intervals were employed