AMINO ACID EXCRETION PATTERNS IN DEVELOPING RATS

Abstract

Amino acid excretion patterns were studied in rats 2 to 12 weeks old. In general there was a decline in amino acid excretion over this period which paralleled that reported in human infants by other workers. The decrease was most marked for certain amino acids (glycine, histidine, and arginine). These changes in excretion are not explicable in terms of changes in plasma amino acid concentrations, nor is it likely that they result from differences in filtered load. They may reflect a progressive development of transport mechanisms for some amino acids over the period studied, in which case similar changes in the concentrating ability of rat kidney cortex slices would be predicted. Other possible explanations which are less rapidly tested include changes in permeability of the tubular cell membranes and differences in the glomerular filtering capacity relative to the amount of tubular tissue which has developed.