Open AccessInfluence of Small Intestinal Protein on Carbohydrate Assimilation in Beef and Dairy Cattle
Author(s) -
D. L. Harmon,
I. Bruckental,
G. B. Huntington,
Y. Aharoni,
A. Arieli
Publication year - 1995
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.32747/1995.7570572.bard
Subject(s) - starch , digestion (alchemy) , small intestine , assimilation (phonology) , carbohydrate , carbohydrate metabolism , amylase , biology , chemistry , casein , metabolism , food science , biochemistry , enzyme , linguistics , philosophy , chromatography
The long term goal of the proposed research, "Influence of small intestinal protein on carbohydrate assimilation and metabolism in beef and dairy cattle" was to define the limits of small intestinal starch digestion and clarify regulatory mechanisms involved in starch assimilation in cattle. It was hypothesized that dietary protein plays a critical role in the regulation of intestinal digestion; however, studies clearly identifying this role were lacking. The first two experiments quantified starch digestion (disappearance from the small intestine) in response to known increments in duodenal protein supply and found that the quantity of DM, OM and starch disappearing from the small intestine increased linearly (P <.01) with protein infusion. A follow-up experiment also demonstrated that casein infusion linearly increased pancreatic a-amylase concentration and secretion rate. The final experiment provided critical data on metabolic fates of glucose derived from intestinal starch digestion. These data demonstrated that increasing postruminal starch supply does increase the metabolism of glucose by visceral tissues: however, this increase is minor (20%) compared with the increase in portal production (70%). These changes can have a dramatic impact on the glucose economy of the animal and result in large increases in the amount of glucose reaching peripheral tissues.