Lipogenesis in Fatty Liver by Amino Acid Imbalance

Lipogenesis in the fatty liver of rat which was induced by feeding an amino acid-irnbalanced diet containing 8% casein supplemented with 0.3% dl-methionine has been investigated by measuring the incorporation of acetate-1-¹⁴C into various lipid fractions during in vitro incubation of liver slices.

In the incorporation of acetate-1-¹⁴C into the total lipid per one g of the slices, no significant difference for the imbalance group was observed. However, the total radioactivity of liver lipid per 100 g of the body and the incorporation into triglyceride in the lipids were significantly higher in the imbalance group than in the control group. Conversion of acetate-1-¹⁴C to CO₂ was not impaired in the imbalance group.

It is evident from these results that the induction of this type of fatty liver is due mainly to the synthesis of triglyceride.