Abstract
Summary
When different amounts of uniformly labeled L-threonine, L-valine, L-histidine, or glucose were administered intraperitoneally to young chicks previously fed complete purified diets or diets lacking different essential amino acids, the total percentage of administered activity recovered as C14O2 during 14 hour experimental periods averaged 10% for threonine, 25% for histidine, 40% for valine, and 50% for glucose. There were large differences in the fraction of each amino acid incorporated into picric acid-precipitable protein. Peak C14O2 production occurred about one hour after administration of glucose, threonine, or valine; 2 hours after administration of histidine. Neither previous diet (complete or lacking the amino acid injected) nor 10-fold variations in amounts of amino acids administered appeared to affect fractions oxidized or synthesized into proteins.
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