title: Liberation of 14CO2 from [14C]adipic acid and [14C]octanoic acid by adult rats during riboflavin deficiency and its reversal.
abstract: The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the already well-established mitochondrial lesion in fatty acid oxidation in riboflavin-deficient experimental animals, might be accompanied by an alteration in vivo in the kinetics of oxidation of labelled adipic acid. This dicarboxylic acid was chosen for testing as a metabolic probe because a block in its oxidation was already apparent from urine analysis of riboflavin-deficient animals, whereas the oxidation of medium- or long-chain monocarboxylic acids seemed to be little affected by deficiency in vivo. Female adult Norwegian hooded rats fed on purified diets containing either 15 mg riboflavin/kg diet (controls) or about 0.4 mg/kg (riboflavin-deficient) received an intragastric dose of either [1,6-14C]adipic acid or [1-14C]octanoic acid. Expired carbon dioxide was then collected in an alkaline trap over 3 h, for determination of radioactivity. This test was repeated at intervals for up to 2 weeks following riboflavin repletion of the deficient animals, and in riboflavin-dosed controls. Whereas the rate and extent of [14C]octanoic acid oxidation was not significantly affected by the deficiency or repletion, the extent of [14C]adipic acid oxidation was markedly and significantly increased during repletion of the deficient animals. The time-course indicated a temporary overshoot, followed by a slow return to the control values over 1-2 weeks. Adipate oxidation was also much less affected by a preceding period of overnight starvation, than was octanoate oxidation. Thus, adipic acid (or a related metabolic probe) may have appropriate properties for the design of a functional test of fatty acid oxidation efficiency, during riboflavin deficiency or allied metabolic conditions in human subjects.
authors.affiliation: MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit, Cambridge.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Bates
mesh_terms: D000272:Adipates / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002210:Caprylates / Q000378:metabolism*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D005260:Female; D007700:Kinetics; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D051381:Rats; D012256:Riboflavin / Q000097:blood; D012257:Riboflavin Deficiency / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000272:Adipates; D002210:Caprylates; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D012256:Riboflavin