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Sinclair Comparative Medicine Research Farm and Department of Veterinary Anatomy-Physiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65201
The effects of protein-calorie malnutrition (PCM) on serum free amino acid concentrations were evaluated using 54 miniature swine. Eighteen piglets were weaned at each of the following ages: 5, 21, or, 35 days. Within each age group, six piglets were assigned to one of three feeding regimes: 20% protein diet fed ad libitum, 5% protein diet fed ad libitum (malnourished), or 20% protein diet pair-fed to malnourished piglets. At age 63 days, fasting blood samples were collected and analyzed for serum free amino acid content. Normal relationships among concentrations of certain amino acids were altered. The effects of PCM on serum free amino acid concentrations varied as to age of onset as well as to the type of malnutrition: protein deficiency or protein-calorie deficiency.
KEY WORDS: protein-calorie malnutrition serum free amino acids
1 Supported in part by USPHS grants RR-00390 and RR-00285.
2 Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65201.
Manuscript received 1 May 1974.