[The metabolism of colostomised laying hens with 15N-labelled wheat. 4. 15N-Incorporation in the corpuscular components of blood, in the blood plasma and the basic amino acids]

[Dynamics of amino acid and protein metabolism of laying hens after administration of 15N-labeled wheat protein. 5. Incorporation of 15N into the blood fraction and its amino acids]

12 colostomized laying hens which received 15N labelled wheat over 4 days were butchered 12 h, 36 h, 60 h and 108 h (3 animals each) after the last 15N application. The intake of 15N excess (15N') from the wheat amounted to 540 mg 15N' during the application period. The 15N' in the blood plasma decreased after the last 15N' application from 0.76 atom-% to 0.55 atom-% after 108 h, the labelling of the corpuscular components at the same measuring points increased from 0.28 to 0.50 atom-% 15N'. 96.6% of the plasma 15N' and 93.8% of that in the corpuscles is precipitable in trichloric acetic acid. The atom-% 15N' of histidine in the total blood remained unchanged in dependence on the butchering time. The 15N amount in lysine and arginine and that in the non-basic amino acids decreased inconsiderably in the period between 12 h and 108 h after the last 15N' wheat feeding.

[The utilization of crude proteins from 15N-labeled straw by broiler hen breeds]

In an experiment with 10 colostomized broiler breeding hens the digestibility of wheat straw meal labelled with 15N and the incorporation of heavy nitrogen into individual body fractions were studied. The straw meal contained a 15N excess (15N') of 14.88 atom-%. Before the experiment part of the straw meal was treated with gamma-rays (2.0 MGy). 5 animals each received in addition to the basic ration 30 g untreated (group I) and irradiated 15N labelled straw meal (group II). The apparent 15N' digestibility amounted for untreated straw meal to 49% and for irradiated straw meal to 46% (p less than 0.05). The labelling of uric acid amounted to 0.25 atom-% 15N', urine with 0.30 atom-% 15N' was more highly labelled (p less than 0.05). On an average of both groups the same labelling of 0.18 atom-% could be detected in the follicles and the liver, whereas 0.17 were ascertained in the blood plasma and 0.16 atom-% 15N' in the oviduct. 18% of the digested 15N' were incorporated in the muscles. There were only insignificant differences between the two groups with regard to the incorporation of 15N'. In conclusion one can say that the apparent digestibility of straw protein is 47.5% and that the utilization of the absorbed N is about the same as that of wheat protein.

[Evaluation of 15N marked urea in the laying hen. 4. Incorporation of 15N in blood, its fractions and follicles in various developmental stages]

In order to study the utilization of urea in poultry, 3 colostomized laying hybrids were orally supplied with a traditional ration supplemented with 1% 15N'-labelled urea with a 15N excess (15N') of 96.06 atom-% over a period of 6 days. After another 2 days on which the hens received the same ration with unlabelled urea, they were butchered. The atom-% 15N' of the blood on an average of the 3 hens was 0.64, of the plasma 1.40 and of the corpuscles 0.47. The TCA-soluble fraction of the blood had an average 15N' of 1.14 atom-%; the 15N amount is 9.7% of the total amount of 15N in the blood. The amount of 15N' in the urea in the blood was 6.8 atom-%. This shows that the absorbed urea is decomposed very slowly. The quota of 15N' in the basic amino acids from the total 15N' of the blood plasma is only 0.3% and that of the corpuscles 2.2%. The average 15N' of the mature follicles is 2.39 atom-% whereas the smallest and the remaining ovary contain 1.12 atom-%. The labelling level of lysine in mature egg cells was, in contrast to this, only 0.08 atom-% 15N' and in infantile follicles 0.04 atom-% 15N'. 1% of the 15N' quota is in the follicles and the remaining ovary. Of the basic amino acids, histidine is most strongly labelled. The as a whole lower incorporation of the 15N from urea into the basic amino acids shows that the nitrogen of this compound can be used for the synthesis of the essential amino acids to a low degree only.

[Studies of 15N-labeled lysine in colostomized laying hens. 6. 15N incorporation into basic amino acids of the liver, kidney, meat, bones and remaining body as well as 15N balance]

Three colostomised laying hybrids received 91.40 mg L-lysine-15N-excess (15N') each over a period of four days in a metabolism experiment with 15N-labelled lysine. After another four days, during which the hens received the same rations supplemented by commercial L-lysine, the animals were butchered and divided into individual fractions. After the hydrochloric hydrolysis of the organs and tissues the heavy nitrogen of lysine, histidine and arginine were separated, quantitatively evaluated, processed and measured with an emission spectrometer. Atom-% 15N' on an average amounted to 0.20 in the liver, 0.16 in the kidneys, 0.06 in the meat and 0.05 in the bones. Of the rediscovered 15N' applied, faeces contained 8.1%, urine 18.3%, the eggs 24.3%, the blood 4.9%, the meat 20.5%, the bones 5.2%, the gastro-intestinal tract with its contents 4.5%, the liver 3.5%, the kidneys 0.9%, the reproductive organs 3.7% and the rest 6.1%. The quota of rediscovery of the 15N' applied was 95.7%. 62% of the total 15N' was rediscovered in eggs, body and faeces as lysine 15N'. There was significantly more 15N' in the arginine in all fractions than in the histidine. The quota of the lysine-15N' of the total 15N' differed considerably in the fractions: less than 40% bones and blood; 48...56% gastro-intestinal tract, faeces, oviduct, kidneys; 62...63% remaining ovary, rest; 69...71% eggs, meat, liver. It could be proved that the alpha-amino group of lysine is to a large extent incorporated into other amino acids. Further proof that the amino acid metabolism proceeds in two phases was submitted, i.e. hight amounts of amino acids previously deposited in the body are used for egg synthesis.

[15N-labeled lysine in colostomized laying hens. 5. 15N incorporation into blood fractions and the gastrointestinal tract]

In the metabolism experiment three colostomized laying hens received, together with a commercial ration of 120 g, 0,2% 15N-labelled L-lysine with an atom-% 15N-excess (15N') of 48%; subsequently the same ration was fed over a period of 4 days with 0.2% unlabelled L-lysine. After the end of the experiment the hens were slaughtered. The atom-% 15N' was determined in total, in the lysine, histidine and arginine N in the corpuscles, the plasma, the NPN-fraction of the blood in the stomachs, the small intestine, the caecum and the rectum. 15N' in the corpuscles was 0.11 atom-%, in the blood plasma 0.17 atom-%, in the NPN-fraction of the blood 0.09 atom-%, in the tissue of the gastro-intestinal tract 0.11 atom-% and in its contents 0,12 atom-%. On average the blood contained per hen 77.9% lysine-15N', 16.4% arginine-15N' and 5.7% histidine-15N' of the basic amino acid-15N'. For the gastro-intestinal tract 78.7% lysine-15N', 19.0% arginine-15N' and 2.3% histidine-15N' of the 15N' of the basic amino acids were ascertained. In comparison to histidine the alpha-amino-N of lysine is incorporated to a considerably higher degree into arginine. For lysine and arginine the atom-% 15N' in the contents of the gastro-intestinal tract for days after the end of the supplementation of labelled lysine is between 8 and 10 times higher than in the feces of the last day of the experiment. This indicates a considerable secretion of the two amino acids in the gastro-intestinal tract and their re-absorption to a large extent.