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Effects of a Dietary Potassium Deficiency on Protein Synthesis in the Young Chick^1,2,

Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana

The influence of the dietary level of potassium on protein synthesis was investigated with young chicks. Incorporation of intraperitoneally injected L-leucine-1-¹⁴C into TCA-precipitable material 4 hours postinjection was used as an index of rate of protein synthesis. The results indicated that chicks fed a semipurified diet deficient in potassium incorporated significantly less L-leucine-1-¹⁴C into skeletal muscle protein than chicks receiving an adequate level of potassium. Conversely, the incorporation of L-leucine-1-¹⁴C into plasma protein was significantly greater in potassium-deficient chicks than in chicks receiving adequate potassium. Radioactivity in the nonprotein fraction of plasma, presumably in the form of the free amino acid, was also higher in potassium-deficient chicks as compared with control chicks. Dietary potassium was without effect on incorporation of L-leucine-1-¹⁴C into liver proteins. It was demonstrated, by pair-feeding experiments, that the effects on incorporation of the labeled leucine into skeletal muscle protein were due to a potassium deficiency per se rather than to reduced feed intake.

² Presented in part at the annual meeting of the American Institute of Nutrition, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1966. Federation Proc., 25: 610 (abstract).

³ Present address: Ralston Purina Company, St. Louis.

Manuscript received 18 December 1967.