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The intestinal absorption of nitrogen from amino acids present in a solution of small peptides or of free amino acids with the same pattern, perfused intraduodenally, has been studied using two analytical techniques [2, 4, 6 trinitrobenzene-1-sulfonic acid (TNBS) after dialysis of the blood vs ninhydrine after chromatography] to determine post-perfusion porto arterial differences and to measure blood flow rate in the portal vein. The results obtained on blood nitrogen level with the chromatographic method were always higher than those obtained using the TNBS method. The differences in the values varied from 8 to 24% according to post-perfusion time and to blood sample origin (arterial or portal). On the contrary, the absorbed amounts of nitrogen measured by either analytical technique were not very much different: no significant and systematic deviation was found between the two. The TNBS method is thus useful as a preliminary approach to very elaborate studies on intestinal absorption. In these conditions, the nitrogen of amino acids from duodenally-perfused small peptides was absorbed earlier and more rapidly than that from a perfusion of a solution of free amino acids. The amount of nitrogen appearing in the portal vein five hours after perfusion exceeded the perfused amount owing to considerable recycling of endogenous nitrogen.

The effects of intravenous glucose perfusion were studied in the pancreatic juice of fistulated pigs. Perfusions were performed either discontinuously for 3 hrs in the fasted or for 6 hrs a day over 6 days in the fed animal. Pancreatic juice volume, total proteins and total activities of chymotrypsin, amylase and lipase were always significantly lowered by glucose given intravenously. Amylase seemed to be the most inhibited of the three enzymes studied. It appeared that prolonged intravenous glucose perfusion could not reproduce in the pig the pancreatic amylase adaptation seen after oral administration of glucose.

The quantitative kinetics of appearance of amino acids (a.a.) in the pig portal vein was studied in 6 animals for 5 hrs. after duodenal perfusion of an enzymatic hydrolysate of milk proteins or a solution of free a.a. of the same composition. Each product was given in two quantities (55 and 110 g). The quantities of a.a. appearing in the portal vein were higher after perfusion of the hydrolysate than after that of the free a.a., independently of the time after the perfusion. Thus, nitrogen present in the small intestine as small peptides is absorbed more quickly than when it is present as free amino acids.

The digestive physiology of the germ-free animal has a number of characteristics (cecal hypertrophy, slower small intestine cell renewal, slower gastric emptying and intestinal transit) which distinguish it from that of the conventional animal. If the germ-free model is to be used to determine the role of gastrointestinal microflora in the nutrition of the conventional animal, it is essential to complete the study of these characteristics by data on digestive enzymes in the germ-free. The present paper analyzes these data. There is little information on salivary amylase and none on gastric proteolytic enzymes and intestinal peptidases. More complete data on exocrine pancreas enzymes and intestinal disaccharidases show that the digestive equipment is similar in germ-free and conventional animals. Bile salts, not considered as digestive enzymes, are qualitatively and quantitatively different, depending on the digestive tract bacterial environment. In general, the germ-free animal has some characteristics which should permit better utilization of the diet ingested. Measurements of apparent digestibility do not confirm this hypothesis since results obtained in germ-free and conventional animals of the same species are contradictory.

The aim of the present work was to study, in the unstressed catheterized gilt, the effect of pregnancy on arterial substrate and pancreatic hormone concentrations in relation to the feed intake level. The experiments were performed on 14 pregnant gilts during the last month of gestation and 5 non pregnant gilts after cannulation of one carotid artery. Blood samples have been collected regularly after an overnight fast. After catheterization of the pregnant gilt, a 4 day-period is required to obtain steady-state conditions. As compared with non-pregnant animals fed on the same standard conditions (i.e. 2 kg/d: crude protein: 130 g/kg; digestible energy: 12.8 MJDE/kg), pregnant gilts exhibit similar and constant blood glucose, lactate, ketone body and plasma free fatty acid concentrations. By contrast, blood alanine concentrations progressively increases. A reduction of the feed intake level by 40% does not modify the blood glucose concentrations but leads to reduce blood lactate and alanine concentrations. On the contrary, plasma free fatty acid levels rise progressively with a limited increase in blood ketone body concentrations. While plasma glucagon concentrations are constant whatever the physiological state or the feed intake level, plasma insulin levels progressively decrease in the pregnant gilt. These data are discussed to display some aspects of the adaptation of the maternal metabolism in the gilt in late gestation.

Even though the availability of dietary amino acids is the result of integrated phenomena of digestion, absorption and transport, it may be mainly affected by the stage of luminal digestion. In this case, amino acid availability could be predicted by an in vitro method designed to reproduce in vivo proteolysis conditions. In order to check this hypothesis, the essential amino acid (EAA) profiles of digesta collected at 8 intervals during a 24-h in vitro enzymatic proteolysis of casein and rapeseed proteins were compared to the pattern of appearance of dietary EAA in portal vein of pigs fed the same proteins, determined at each hour over a 8-h postprandial period by coupling blood flow rate with porto-arterial differences in plasma EAA concentrations. Comparisons of in vitro and in vivo data first bore on overall EAA profiles measured at each interval, and then on the individual kinetics of each EAA. Regarding total profiles, the highest correlations for casein (r: 0.80-0.98) were found when comparing EAA patterns determined during the first half of in vitro digestion and in vivo absorption periods. Similar r values were obtained with rapeseed proteins, but over longer periods of measurement. Concerning individual kinetics, the highest correspondences were found with rapeseed proteins, with 5 out of 9 EAA (methionine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine and arginine) having their in vitro sequence of release significantly correlated with their in vivo sequence of absorption. With casein, correlations were significant for threonine, valine, isoleucine and leucine. These results suggest that sequential hydrolysis in the digestive tract, as reproduced by the in vitro technique, is a key determinant of amino acid appearance in the portal blood to a degree varying with the protein source and with the nature of the amino acid.

The fasting hypoglycemia (1.78 +/- 0.29 mmol/l) which develops in 48-h-old pigs is partially reversed (3.85 +/- 0.55 mmol/l) after gastric administration of long-chain triglycerides (LCT). The increase in blood glucose induced by LCT feeding was not secondary to a decreased glucose utilization because glucose disappearance rate increased in LCT-fed piglets but resulted from a twofold increase in glucose appearance. By using the crossover-plot technique, the stimulation of hepatic gluconeogenesis induced by LCT feeding has been localized at 1) the level of pyruvate carboxylase owing to the twofold increase in hepatic acetyl-CoA concentration and 2) the level of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase secondary to the increase in reducing equivalents (NADH), which displaces this equilibrium reaction in the direction of gluconeogenesis. As blood lactate, pyruvate, and alanine concentrations increased after LCT feeding, the possible effects of LCT on pyruvate dehydrogenase in peripheral tissues are discussed. These data demonstrate that fatty acids stimulate hepatic gluconeogenesis in 48-h-old fasting piglets and underline the role of fat provision in the regulation of glucose homeostasis during the neonatal period in the pig.

The aim of this study was to determine the rate of circulating gastrointestinal hormones in pigs when pancreatic secretion was re-introduced or removed from the duodenal lumen. Permanent fistulas were fitted into the pancreatic duct and duodenum of 16 pigs, and catheters were introduced into the portal vein and a jugular vein as well. Plasma hormone content was determined at different times during two periods of 30 and 60 min each, when the juice was returned to the pigs; these two periods included a 120-min interval when the juice was not reintroduced into the intestinal lumen. When the pancreatic juice was not returned to the pigs, plasma secretin content rose significantly in the portal blood (+ 42.8% at min 15; +52.5% at min 30; +31% at min 60 and +27% at min 120) and in the peripheral blood (+36.4% at min 30; +18.9% at min 120) compared to the mean values recorded during intraduodenal re-introduction of the secretion. In parallel, the volume of juice secreted and protein output increased significantly but their concentration did not. When the pancreatic juice was removed the mean cholecystokinin level in the portal vein did not change significantly, except at min 30 when its value was 32% higher than the mean during the periods of restitution. Cholecystokinin in the peripheral blood was not affected by removing the pancreatic juice from the intestinal lumen. The mean plasma levels of gastrin, somatostatin, VIP and PP in the portal and peripheric blood were unaltered. These results suggest that in pigs secretin may have an important role in the regulation of pancreatic secretion by negative feedback.

Oral pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy generally benefits patients with severe pancreatic deficiency. However, the fate of oral pancreatic supplements in the digestive lumen and their possible effects on circulating gut hormones are only partially known. The purpose of this article is to validate an experimental model that produces total pancreatic insufficiency in pigs, and to study the fate of orally administered Eurobiol, a whole pancreas lyophilized preparation, and its effects on circulating plasma levels of five digestive hormones. Pancreatic insufficiency was created by pancreatic duct ligation, and the duodenal, jejunal and ileal contents were sampled through cannulas before a normal meal and 0.5-24 h later. Blood samples were taken at the same times, and plasma neurotensin, pancreatic polypeptide, secretin, cholecystokinin (CCK), and gastrin were measured. In pigs with pancreatic insufficiency, Eurobiol, given during the meal, induced a significant increase in all enzyme activities in the duodenum and the jejunum, and in the levels of amylase, trypsin, and chymotrypsin in the ileum, relative to placebo. In the duodenum, the peak concentrations of enzyme activities were 19, 11, 17, and 29% (p less than 0.001) of the postprandial peak activities measured in control pigs with an intact pancreas for lipase, amylase, trypsin, and chymotrypsin, respectively. In the jejunum, the same activities were, respectively, 30, 11, 25, and 36% (p less than 0.01-0.001) of normal peaks. In pigs with pancreatic insufficiency, basal and integrated meal-stimulated neurotensin levels were increased; basal, peak, and integrated meal-stimulated pancreatic polypeptide and secretin levels were increased, whereas gastrin and CCK were not different from controls.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The kinetics of appearance of amino acids (AA) in portal blood following the ingestion of casein or rapeseed protein were compared. Six pigs, fitted with permanent catheters in the portal vein and in the carotid artery, as well as with an electromagnetic flow probe around the portal vein, received three 800 g test meals, one containing 12% rapeseed proteins (RA12) and the others containing 12% and 24% casein (CA12 and CA24), at 1-week intervals and according to a double Latin square design. Portal and arterial blood samples were collected and portal blood flow rate was recorded for 8 h after the test meals. At the end of measurement, an average of 76.1 +/- 5.6% (mean +/- SEM) of total AA from the CA24 diet had appeared in portal blood, compared with 94.3 +/- 10.4% for the CA12 diet and 103.5 +/- 12.6% for the RA12 diet. Similar results were obtained for essential AA. Differences were found in the kinetics of appearance of individual AA. Eight hours after the meal, 79% of lysine, 84% of methionine, and 73% of valine from the CA24 diet had appeared in portal blood compared, respectively, with 100, 89, and 83% from the CA12 diet and 99, 86, and 106% from the RA12 diet. Arginine from rapeseed had a net appearance level lower (82%) than the overall mixture of essential AA. With casein diets, the net appearance of arginine reached 97% (CA12) and 82% (CA24). Following the ingestion of rapeseed proteins, there seemed to be a significant appearance of endogenous AA in portal blood.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The present study provides some metabolic features of the gravid uterus in the nonanesthetized gilt during the last fourth portion of pregnancy. Substrate and oxygen arteriovenous differences across the uterus were determined in eight gilts with chronically implanted arterial and uterine venous catheters. Glucose represents the main substrate taken up by the conceptus and glucose extraction amounts to 8.3 +/- 0.5%. By contrast, there is a constant release of lactate from the pregnant uterus. The coefficient of extraction of oxygen is 20.2 +/- 1.9%. Glucose plus lactate/oxygen quotient is high (1.3 +/- 0.2), suggesting that glucose alone is sufficient to account for the oxidative metabolism of the pig uterus. Nonesterified fatty acid and ketone body are not significantly extracted by the pig uterus whereas a significant amino acid extraction occurs in late pregnancy. Uterine uptake of amino acids depends on maternal arterial concentrations and a great part (78%) of this uterine uptake is represented by neutral amino acids and especially glutamine.