Protein‐Sparing Therapy During Pneumococcal infection in Rhesus Monkeys

A model was developed in the rhesus monkey to determine if the marked wasting of body proteins associated with sepsis could be prevented by an intravenous supply of various nutritional substrates. All monkeys were given a basic infusion of 0.5 gm of amino acid nitrogen/kg body weight via an indwelling catheter in the jugular vein. Three groups were given diets with no added calories, 85 calories/kg from dextrose or 85 calories from lipid. In each group, six monkeys were inoculated with 3 times 10 8 Streptococcus pneumoniae and four with heat‐killed organisms. In the monkeys infused with the amino acids alone, pneumococcal sepsis resulted in a fourfold increase in loss of body proteins compared with calorie‐restricted controls. Addition of 85 calories/kg/day of either dextrose or lipid markedly reduced body wasting associated with infectious disease. The calories from lipid were utilized by the septic host as a source of energy, with a slightly reduced efficiency when compared with the isocaloric infusion of dextrose. The nitrogen sparing of the fat emulsion could not be accounted for by its glycerol content. Therefore, the septic monkey seemed to utilize fatty acids as an energy substrate. It appears that the carbohydrate calories tend to favor the synthesis of peripheral proteins (associated mainly with skeletal muscle), while lipid calories favor synthesis of visceral proteins such as plasma albumin and acute‐phase proteins.