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Antagonistic Effect of Arginine on Zinc Metabolism in Chicks^{1 ,2 ,3}

Department of Biochemistry, Department of Poultry Science, and Department of Meat and Animal Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706

Experiments using dried egg white, isolated soybean protein or casein as the dietary protein source were conducted to study the effect of various levels of dietary arginine on zinc deficiency in chicks. Addition of high levels of arginine to each of these protein sources, limiting in zinc, greatly increased the incidence and severity of leg abnormalities and tended to lower body weights of chicks. Arginine added to low zinc egg white- or soybean protein-based diets increased feather abnormalities. With a casein-based diet, it was possible to either eliminate or render very severe the leg abnormalities caused by zinc deficiency simply by feeding a low or high amount, respectively, of supplemental arginine. Supplemental zinc completely prevented the adverse effect of excess arginine. The leg abnormalities were also alleviated by histidine and histamine — which have previously been shown to alleviate the leg abnormalities of zinc-deficient chicks fed soybean protein diets. Increasing the dietary level of arginine resulted in marked decreases in tibia and feather zinc concentrations but did not significantly affect liver zinc concentration. Neither histidine nor histamine consistently affected tissue zinc concentrations of zinc-deficient chicks. It was suggested that arginine is the previously postulated "complicating factor" of zinc-deficient soybean protein diets, since arginine can account for the differences in zinc deficiency signs which occur among chicks fed the different amino acid sources.

KEY WORDS: • arginine antagonism • zinc metabolism • chick

¹ Approved for publication by the Director of the Research Division of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison (paper no. 601).

² Presented in part before the meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, April 1969. Coleman, B. W., E. M. Reimann, R. H. Grummer and W. G. Hoekstra 1969 Federation Proc. 28: 761 (abstr.).

³ This paper was based on a thesis submitted by the senior author to the University of Wisconsin, Graduate School, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree.

⁴ Present address: Ralston Purina Company, St. Louis, Missouri 63199.

⁵ Present address: Department of Biochemistry, Medbaseddiet. leal College of Ohio, Toledo, Ohio 43614.

Manuscript received 11 January 1971.