Amino acids and lipoproteins in plasma of duodenopancreatectomized patients: effects of glucagon in physiological amounts

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Abstract
Duodenopancreatectomy induces a severe glucagon deficiency and elevated plasma concentrations of alanine, aspartate, glycine, proline, serine, arginine, citrulline, ornithine, phenylalanine and tyrosine. Restoring high physiological plasma glucagon in six such patients by infusing 0.3 mg/24 h of exogenous glucagon reduced significantly (P < 0.01 or 0.001) the mentioned amino acids (except phenylalanine) and further asparagine, glutamine, methionine and threonine. In six normal subjects the same infusion reduced significantly (P < 0.05 to 0.001) plasma alanine, asparagine, glutamate, glutamine, glycine, proline, serine, threonine, arginine, ornithine, lysine and tyrosine. However, the effect was significantly (P < 0.01 or 0.001) less marked for alanine, glutamine, glycine, methionine, serine, threonine and arginine. This particular glucagon sensitivity of duodenopancreatectomized patients suggests that glucagon deficiency is the cause of their hyperaminacidaemia. By co‐trust, lipoprotein concentrations were virtually unaffected by either glucagon deficiency or its replacement.In the light of the marked hypoaminacidaemia in glucagonoma patients these results attribute to glucagon a major role as a regulator of protein metabolism.