Screening of amino acids as a safe energy source for isolated rat pancreatic acini

Abstract Amino acids play an essential role in protein synthesis, metabolism and survival of pancreatic acinar cells. Adequate nutritional support is important for acute pancreatitis treatment. However, some amino acids, such as arginine and lysine, are toxic for pancreatic acinar cells in high concentrations. The study aimed to select the candidate amino acids as the best non-toxic energy sources for supplemental therapy of acute pancreatitis. Pancreatic acini were isolated from male Wistar rats. Effects of amino acids (0.1–20 mM) on uncoupled respiration of isolated acini were studied with a Clark electrode. Cell necrosis and apoptosis were evaluated with fluorescent microscopy and DNA gel electrophoresis. Among the tested amino acids, glutamate, glutamine, alanine, lysine and aspartate were able to stimulate the uncoupled respiration rate of isolated pancreatic acini, while arginine, histidine and asparagine were not. Lysine, arginine and glutamine (20 mM) caused complete necrosis of acinar cells after 24 h of incubation. Glutamine also caused early (2–4 h) cell swelling and blebbing. Aspartate, asparagine and glutamate only moderately increased the number of necrotic cells, while alanine and histidine were not toxic. No significant apoptosis developed after incubation with amino acids. In conclusion, we propose alanine and glutamate as safe candidate amino acid supplements for patients with acute pancreatitis.