When weanling male rats were fed amino acid diets in which only one essential amino acid level (tryptophan or valine) was varied stepwise as follows (in % of diet) : 0.06, 0.12, 0.18 and 0.27 for tryptophan and 0, 035, 0.45, 0.55, 0.65 and 0.75 for valine, respectively. Urinary allantoin (A) and urea (U) were estimated, and (A/U) X protein intake (I
p) values were calculated. Simultaneously, the net protein ratio (NPR) and the biological values (BV) were also determined.
The results suggest that one of the most important factors influencing the (A/U) X I
p value is the amino acid balance of the dietary protein. (A/U) X I
p values responded more sharply to changes in dietary amino acid balance as compared with NPR and BV. Moreover, when the level of a variable amino acid in the diet exceeded the point expected to be the minimum requirement level, the (A/U) X I
p value decreased again in a nearly symmetrical manner, although the mode of response curves differed depending upon the variable amino acid (more sharply in tryptophan). The peaks of the value were obtained at the levels of 0.18-0.20% for tryptophan and 0.45-0.55% for valine.
View full abstract