MEAL PATTERN OF MALE RATS MAINTAINED ON INDIVIDUAL BRANCHED CHAIN AMINO ACID SUPPLEMENTED DIET

摘要

The effect of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs: Isoleucine, Leucine and Valine) on feeding behaviour is not clear, especially that they were implicated in the management of both cachexia and obesity. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of individual BCAAs on meal pattern of rats. Adult male rats were randomly divided into four groups: control diet or isoleucine (5%)- leucine (5%)- or valine (5%)-supplemented diet and meal pattern was monitored for 10 days. Total food intake (nocturnal and diurnal), feeding rate, postprandial plasma insulin and hepatic adenine nucleotides were not significantly different between the groups. However, individual BCAAs were found to alter meal pattern of rats, whereby meal size was increased while meal number was decreased; with valine having the most pronounced effect. The mechanism(s) by which individual BCAAs affect meal pattern may relate to their capacity to compete with tryptophan and phenylalanine-tyrosine for entry into the brain.