Abstract

The acidification of urine during polyol feeding was investigated with 27 Long-Evans male rats (aged 12 weeks) which were fed a xylitol diet (X), a sorbitol diet (S), or a basal diet for 4 weeks. The amount of polyols in the diet was increased from 5% to the final 20% level within 3 weeks. The polyol-fed animals showed reduced weight gain, lowered urine pH (from 6.5 to 5.6), and a 4-fold increase in the titratable acid excretion. X and S increased the daily urine volumes by 49 and 63%, respectively, but did not affect the wet weight or the pH values of the feces. as chromatographic-mass spectrometric analyses of organic acids revealed highly increased amounts of methylmalonic acid (13- to 20-fold) and 2-oxoglutaric acid (4- to 5-fold) in the urine of polyol-fed rats. The urinary excretion of citric acid and malic acid was also increased significantly (2- to 4-fold). The acidity of urine was not reflected in the blood acid-base balance of the animals. The increases in the levels of urinary organic acids in the polyol-fed rats were explained in terms of impaired mitochondrial oxidation of these acids and of impaired conversion of methylmalonic acid to succinic acid.