Branched chain amino acid in adenine-induced uremic rats treated with rHuEPO

Background. It is well known that chronic renal failure shows an abnormal amino acid profile characterized by a decrease in branched chain amino acid (BCAA). Methods. To investigate the change in BCAA with uremia and the effect of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) on BCAA level, we measured the plasma and muscle levels of BCAA in adenine-induced renal anemia in Wistar rats. Results. A significant correlation was found between plasma and muscle tissue levels of BCAA. Further, not only the plasma level but the muscle level of each BCAA showed an inverse correlation with the serum creatinine value. Both plasma and muscle BCAA levels showed, in addition, significant recovery after rHuEPO treatment. Conclusions. Taking these results into account, we conclude that the decrease in BCAA is a clinicopathological feature essentially associated with uremia (i.e., it is not an epiphenomenon), and that BCAA levels could be recovered by rHuEPO treatment. However, the pathological mechanism by which BCAA level is decreased in the uremic state and is recovered after rHuEPO treatment remains to be elucidated.