| Abstract: | 1. The effect of varying dietary levels of casein (40-140 g/kg) on hepatic lipogenesis and the levels of hepatic fatty acid synthetase (FAS), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.49; G6PD), malic enzyme (EC 1.1.1.40; ME), citrate cleavage enzyme (EC 4.1.3.8; CCE), acetyl CoA carboxylase (EC 6.4.1.2; AcCx), glucokinase (EC 2.7.1.2; GK), and pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) was examined in young, growing rats. 2. The activities of AcCx, FAS, G6PD and in vivo fatty acid synthesis were generally found to increase with increased dietary protein. 3. The levels of GK and PDH were not related to dietary protein. 4. ME decreased with increasing dietary protein. 5. The results demonstrate a dissociation between hepatic fatty acid synthesis and ME and suggest that when rats consume low-protein diets the NADPH needed for fatty acid synthesis is generated primarily by ME but that as the level of dietary protein is increased the contribution of ME is reduced while that of the phosphogluconate pathway becomes more important. |
