Effects of constituent amino acids on tubular handling of microinfused angiotensin II.

[14C]angiotensin II ([14C]AII) was microinjected alone or with excess L-isoleucine (IIe) or L-aspartic acid (Asp) into renal tubules of anesthetized rats. Urinary excretion of 14C-labeled material was measured, and the intact peptide and its metabolites were identified and quantified. When isoleucine was administered with [14C]AII, urinary recovery of the 14C-labeled material increased directly with distance of infusion site from glomerulus, and most of the radioactivity in urine was [14C]Ile. The data suggest that isoleucine interfered with reabsorption of [14C]Ile derived from hydrolysis of [14C]AII and less so with the hydrolysis itself. When aspartic acid was administered with [14C]AII into the proximal 5/6 of the proximal convolution, total urinary recovery of the 14C-labeled material was unchanged, but percentage of recovery as [14C]AII increased; with infusion into the distal 1/6 of the proximal convolution, total urinary recovery of the 14C labele increased. The data suggest that aspartic acid interfered with the enzymatic hydrolysis of [14C]AII and reabsorption of isoleucine. In distal tubules the 14C label was almost completely recovered as intact [14C]AII in all protocols. The results show that free amino acids influence proximal tubular handling of small linear peptides in rats.