Time-course of enzyme adaptation. I. Effects of substituting dietary glucose and fructose at constant concentrations of dietary protein

The effect of dietary fructose on liver, kidney, and adrenal enzymes was studied in male Sprague–Dawley rats. Dietary fructose increased relative liver and kidney sizes, liver glycogen, and liver protein. The percentage increases in relative liver and kidney sizes were independent of dietary protein, but relative liver sizes were smaller in the absence of protein.The activities of all the liver enzymes studied, except glucokinase, were increased by a 65% fructose diet containing 25% casein. The rates of increases differed between enzymes; the activities of L-α-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEP-carboxykinase) reached almost maximum in 1 day, glucose 6-phosphatase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, and pyruvate kinase activities reached maximum in about 2 days, and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, malic enzyme, dihydroxyacetone kinase, phosphofructose kinase, and phosphohexose isomerase required at least 3 days to reach maximum activity after the dietary change. The increases in the activities of liver fructose 1,6-diphosphatase, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, pyruvate kinase, and phosphohexose isomerase did not occur in the absence of dietary protein. The activities of liver phosphofructokinase and malic enzyme were increased equally well whether the fructose diet contained protein or not, while the increases in the activities of other enzymes were less in the absence of dietary protein.The half-life of liver malic enzyme was estimated as 3 days in the glucose to fructose dietary change and 1 day in the fructose to glucose dietary change. Since malic enzyme activity was increased by fructose feeding about threefold, the data suggest that under the conditions of the experiment fructose increased malic enzyme activity by decreasing the rate of breakdown of the enzyme.In general, kidney enzymes were affected by fructose to a lesser extent than the corresponding enzymes in liver. This was particularly significant in the case of kidney glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, and malic enzyme, the activities of which were only slightly increased in kidney. The activities of these three enzymes in the adrenal glands were not increased by fructose feeding.