Abstract
The rate of growth of young white rats on a diet containing sodium benzoate has been used as an index of the rate of formation of the amino acid, glycine, which is required for the detoxication of benzoic acid, as well as for the synthesis of new tissue proteins. Normal growth occurred on a diet containing 2 per cent sodium benzoate and 12 per cent casein, but the rats failed to grow on diets containing 3 per cent sodium benzoate and 12, 35, or 50 per cent casein. The addition of one equivalent of glycine (1.56 gm.) to the diet containing 12 per cent casein and 3 per cent benzoate resulted in normal growth. In these experiments, 38 gm. of casein did not successfully replace 1.56 gm. of glycine, and it was, therefore, concluded that casein was unable to supply precursors of glycine. This investigation of the formation of amino acids in the animal organism is being continued and extended.
This is a preliminary report.
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