Altered Nitrogen Balance and Decreased Urea Excretion in Male Rats Fed Cafeteria Diet Are Related to Arginine Availability

Table 1

Energy and nitrogen balances of male rats fed a cafeteria diet compared with controls fed a standard rat chow diet.

	Units	Control: initial; (𝑛=12)	Control: final; (𝑛=6)	Cafeteria diet-fed: final (𝑛=6)	𝑃	Control: (days 1–30)	Cafeteria diet-fed: (days 1–30)
Rat weight	g	291±2^A	373±17^B	449±8^C	<0.001
Rat weight change	g/30 day					83±7	158±7^∗
Energy intake	kJ/d	326±6^A	365±6^A	596±11^B	<0.001	350±9	680±6^∗
Body nitrogen content	g	10.4±0.7^A	13.0±0.8^AB	15.0±1.2^B	0.004
Body nitrogen accrual	mg/day					87±8	157±11^∗
Nitrogen intake	mg/day	478±17^A	481±14^A	652±25^B	<0.001	475±11	813±13^∗
Stool nitrogen^#	mg/day	23±2	23±3	22±2	NS
Urea nitrogen excreted^#	mg/day	374±32	441±33	335±35	NS
Creatinine nitrogen excreted^#	𝜇g/day	54±6^A	67±10^B	79+5^B	0.003
NO𝑥 nitrogen excreted^#	𝜇g/day	2.7±0.2^A	3.3±0.2^AB	3.8±0.4^B	0.020
Nitrogen excreted not accounted (N gap)^#	mg/day	21±25^A	24±14^A	99±15^B	<0.001

The values are the mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM) for 6 different animals. Statistical significance of the differences between groups: 𝑃 (one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA): time); different superscript letters represent statistically significant differences between groups (Bonferroni posthoc test) ^∗𝑃<0.05 for Student’s 𝑡-test (30-day changes). ^#Data between days 0 and 27.