Effects of Dietary Arginine, Ornithine, and Zeolite Supplementation on Uremic Toxins in Cats.

toxins (Basel). 2018 May 18;10(5). pii: E206. doi: 10.3390/toxins10050206. Paßlack N1, Zentek J2. Author information 1 Institute of Animal Nutrition, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 49, 14195 Berlin, Germany. Nadine.Passlack@fu-berlin.de. 2 Institute of Animal Nutrition, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 49, 14195 Berlin, Germany. Juergen.Zentek@fu-berlin.de. Abstract To test if arginine and ornithine, both components of the Krebs-Henseleit cycle, or zeolite, a potential ammonium absorber, can modulate the excretion of harmful bacterial metabolites, intestinal microbial protein fermentation was stimulated by feeding a high-protein (60.3%) diet as a single daily meal to 10 adult cats. The diet was supplemented without or with arginine (+50, 75, 100% compared to arginine in the basal diet), ornithine (+100, 150, 200% compared to arginine in the basal diet), or zeolite (0.125, 0.25, 0.375 g/kg body weight/day). The cats received each diet for 11 days. Urine, feces, and blood were collected during the last 4 days. Arginine and ornithine enhanced the postprandial increase of blood urea, but renal urea excretion was not increased. Zeolite decreased renal ammonium excretion and fecal biogenic amines. The data indicate an increased detoxification rate of ammonia by arginine and ornithine supplementation. However, as urea was not increasingly excreted, detrimental effects on renal function cannot be excluded. Zeolite had beneficial effects on the intestinal nitrogen metabolism, which should be further evaluated in diseased cats. Clinical studies should investigate whether dietary arginine and ornithine might improve hepatic ammonia detoxification or could be detrimental for renal function. KEYWORDS: blood; kidneys; liver; urea; uremic toxins PMID: 29783632 PMCID: PMC5983262 DOI: 10.3390/toxins10050206 Free PMC Article