Treatment with leucine stimulates the production of hepatocyte growth factor in vivo.
Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has pleiotropic effects. Up-regulation of HGF activity in vivo may be beneficial. Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are known to modulate various cellular functions. When starved rats received intraperitoneal injections of valine, leucine or isoleucine, only leucine treatment increased both hepatic and circulating levels of HGF in a dose-dependent manner, up to 1.5 and 2.3 times higher, respectively, than in controls. When young growing rats with free access to food were injected with leucine once a day for a week, HGF levels and liver weights were significantly higher than those of control rats. Furthermore, 1 week of leucine treatment of adult rats resulted in elevated serum albumin levels with an increase in HGF levels. Taken together with our previous report showing that leucine stimulates HGF production by hepatic stellate cells in culture, leucine, among BCAAs, may induce an increase in HGF production by the liver in vivo.
Tomiya
Tomoaki
T
Department of Gastroenterology, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. tomiya-1im@h.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Inoue
Yukiko
Y
Yanase
Mikio
M
Arai
Masahiro
M
Ikeda
Hitoshi
H
Tejima
Kazuaki
K
Nagashima
Kayo
K
Nishikawa
Takako
T
Watanabe
Naoko
N
Omata
Masao
M
Fujiwara
Kenji
K
D000818:Animals; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000097:blood; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D007532:Isoleucine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D007700:Kinetics; D007930:Leucine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000378:metabolism; D013217:Starvation; D014633:Valine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology
D012709:Serum Albumin; D007532:Isoleucine; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D007930:Leucine; D014633:Valine