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The Nutritive Value of Animal Tissues in Growth, Reproduction and Lactation

II. The Presence of a New Dietary Principle in Liver¹

Two Figures

Biochemical Laboratories, State University of Iowa, Iowa City

These observations confirm the conclusions arrived at in the previous paper and leave no doubt that alcohol extraction removes material from liver which is necessary for optimum growth and lactation. They further show that this material is not associated with the liver lipids and that the additional protein consumed when whole liver supplements are fed is not the effective agent. The principle which accelerates growth may be identical with the lactation factor; more than 0.5 gm. raw liver or its equivalent of dried whole liver is necessary for maximum response in each case, and heat treatment has a parallel effect. The superiority of raw liver over dried whole liver for lactation was also observed by Clayton ('30), and appears to be a quantitative rather than qualitative difference.

The multiple nature of the vitamin B complex leads to the easy assumption that the valuable contribution made by whole liver may be one of the several constituents of this complex. Though partially indirect, the evidence presented seems to differentiate this thermostable dietary factor from those present in yeast as well as from any of the hitherto known dietary essentials, and substantiates the conclusions reached by Smith ('31) in a preliminary report of this work.

Mapson ('32) has recently drawn similar conclusions from results obtained by quite different experimental procedures and has tentatively proposed the name ‘physin’ for this factor. Physiologically improper proportions of the accepted dietary requisites are known to produce nutritional abnormalities and this new factor may yet prove to be a hypothetical substance, but the failure to obtained optimum growth and lactation on extracted-liver rations, when the known requirements are supplied in abundance, presents a contrast to the relatively small amount of whole liver which will restore these functions to normal.

² Deceased.

³ The experimental work reported in this paper was directed by Dr. H. Gregg Smith. The manuscript was prepared with the assistance of Dr. H. A. Mattill.

Manuscript received 1 May 1933.