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Effect of Arginine upon the Toxicity of Excesses of Single Amino Acids in Chicks¹

Animal Research Institute, Canada Department of Agriculture, Ottowa, Canada

A series of experiments was conducted to elucidate the mechanism through which arginine relieves the imbalance caused by the addition of excessive levels of amino acids in chick diets. Excess quantities of the L-isomer amino acids, lysine, tyrosine, histidine, glycine, methionine, cystine, valine, threonine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, glutamic acid and leucine were added singly to a balanced low protein casein diet and fed to week-old chicks for 2 weeks' duration. Each of the amino acids fed at super-optional levels resulted in some manifestation of imbalance, i.e., reduction in growth or feed intake, or both, on the part of the chicks. Amounts of these amino acids required to bring about an imbalance, ranged from 10% (L-glutamic acid) to 0.4% (L-lysine·HCl). The aforementioned conditions of imbalance were, with the exception of those caused by tryptophan, leucine and glutamic acid, all alleviated to some extent by the addition of arginine. The level of arginine required to bring about this relief ranged from 0.3% to 2.0% but did not appear to be dependent upon the severity of the imbalance. Attempts to define the unique role of arginine in the detoxification of amino acid excesses were not successful. It appears that supplemental arginine in imbalanced diets does not exert its benefit because of a deficiency of this amino acid due to a reduced feed intake, does not mediate its influence through competitive inhibition at absorption or reabsorption sites, nor does it appear to act as a cycle intermediate in a possible latent urea cycle.

² Present address: The Quaker Oats Company, Barrington, Illinois.

Manuscript received 11 November 1968.

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