Question

Compare and contrast the concepts of protein turnover and N-balance. What conditions, nutritional and hormonal, would produce a positive N-balance and promote protein synthesis

Answer 1

Protein breaks down into amino acids, which can be reassembled into new proteins. The balance between protein breakdown and buildup is known as protein turnover.

It controlling the quantity and quality of protein in a biological system.

N balance can be described as a measure of the net change in total body protein.

The amount of protein need from diet is based on nitrogen balance, which is the balance between the amount of nitrogen consumed in diet and the amount excreted.

In positive N balance tissues are able to grow because proteins are built up or synthesized at a greater rate than they are broken down.

Positive nitrogen balance is associated with periods of growth, hypothyroidism, tissue repair, and pregnancy. Here intake of nitrogen into the body is greater than the loss of nitrogen from the body, so there is an increase in the total body pool of protein.