Abstract

The effects of oral administration of eight L-amino acids (alanine, arginine, cysteine, glycine, histidine, hydroxyproline, lysine and threonine) individually or as an amino acid mixture on plasma gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP), insulin and glucose concentrations were examined in 18-h fasted obese hyperglycemic (ob/ob) mice. At a dose of 5.4 mmol/kg body weight, arginine, cysteine, histidine and the amino acid mixture were equipotent in terms of increasing plasma GIP and insulin concentrations. Alanine, hydroxyproline and lysine also increased plasma GIP, but insulin concentrations were unchanged. In contrast, threonine failed to affect either GIP or insulin concentrations. There was no correlation between either the incremental or integrated GIP and insulin responses, and none of the amino acids administered affected circulating glucose concentrations. The results indicate that a range of essential and nonessential neutral and basic amino acids stimulate the release of GIP in ob/ob mice. However, GIP made only a modest contribution to the stimulation of insulin secretion following administration of amino acids in the presence of basal glycemia.