1. The changes in the concentration of some enzymes and their metabolites were studied in the first stages of vitamin A deficiency in chicks.

2. Kidney arginase (EC 3.5.3.1) and liver xanthine dehydrogenase activities had increased even before complete disappearance of vitamin A from the plasma. Similarly, an increase was found in plasma uric acid, and plasma urea also increased but to a lesser extent. Liver proteolytic activity also was slightly increased by vitamin A deficiency.

3. Kidney D-amino acid oxidase (EC 1.4.3.3) activity and plasma concentrations of total protein and free amino acids were not affected, at least in the first stages of the deficiency.

4. Oral dosing of deficient chicks with retinyl palmitate to provide 300 μg retinol, 24 h before killing, brought about a decrease in the activities of both enzymes and of plasma uric acid, and an increase in plasma urea.

5. Dietary levels of vitamin A were reflected not only in the liver concentrations of the vitamin but also in the plasma concentrations.

1. The duodenal flow of digesta and the concurrent pancreatic secretion were compared when six Ayrshire calves, with duodenal re-entrant and pancreatic sac cannulas, were fed on three reconstituted milks. The diets were: reconstituted, ‘mildly’ preheated, spray-dried skim-milk powder (SK); the same skim milk containing 20 g fat/l (SKF); and reconstituted, ‘severely’ preheated skim-milk powder containing 20 g fat/l (HSKF). The calves were fed ad lib. from teats twice daily from 9 to 21 d of age, each diet being offered for 4 d. Collections of duodenal digesta and pancreatic secretions were made for 12 h after the fourth and eighth meals on each diet.

2. The calves tended to have the highest liquid intakes when diet SK was given. After adjustment for differences in intake, diet SK resulted in the appearance of more hydrogen, chloride and potassium ions but less undigested protein nitrogen in the duodenal digesta than with either diet SKF or HSKF.

3. Compared with diets SK and SKF, the whey fluids from diet HSKF took significantly longer to leave the abomasum, less H+ passed through the duodenum during the first 6 h after feeding and less Cl− during the whole postprandial period. More undigested protein N and fat from diet HSKF passed through the duodenum during the first 6 h after feeding, although this difference was significant only for protein N during the 1st hour after feeding.

4. Over the 12 h postprandial period, the duodenal digesta contained almost exactly the same quantities of polyethylene glycol (PEG), N and fat as those in the meal. The total volume of digesta was 2.25 l greater than the quantity of milk ingested. When the hourly duodenal flows of PEG and fluid were expressed as the square root of the hourly quantities recovered, the pattern of abomasal emptying was rectilinear. The flows of N and fat were curvilinear, when expressed on the same basis.

5. The concentration of ‘sodium-free’chloride in the duodenal digesta, in excess of that ingested in the milk, was used as an indicator of the quantity of acid secreted by the abomasum. The relative quantity of acid secreted was greatest with diet SK and least with diet HSKF.

6. The pancreatic secretion of fluid was highest during the period 5–9 h after feeding but the secretion of enzyme activity was highest during the first 2 h after feeding.

7. Considerable variability in the secretion of enzyme activity was observed and the rate of secretion did not appear to be related to any component of the duodenal digesta.

8. Diet SKF was associated with a greater volume of pancreatic secretion and more pancreatic protease secretion than either diet SK or HSKF, but most amylase activity was secreted when diet HSKF was given. Evidence is presented which suggests that pancreatic enzyme activity adaptation occurred when diet HSKF was offered in succession to diet SK or SKF. The secretion of trypsin activity did not differ between diets.

1. Sheep, cows and calves fitted with rumen cannulas were given diets mostly containing 10–16 g nitrogen/kg dry matter and consisting of roughage and cereals. Mixed bacteria were separated from samples of their rumen contents.

2. Bacteria taken 4–6 h after a feed from calves which were kept in an experimental calf-house with no contact with adult animals (environment A) contained more α-dextran, less total N and higher nucleic acid:total N ratios than similar bacteria from calves reared in contact with adult sheep (environment C) but otherwise treated in an identical way.

3. Mixed bacteria taken 4–6 h after a feed from sheep and cows were similar in composition, with respect to nitrogenous components, to those from the ‘environment C’ calves. This composition did not vary significantly when diets containing differing proportions of roughage were given.

4. The ‘environment A’ calves were free of ciliate protozoa. When they were placed in contact with, and were inoculated with rumen contents from, adult cattle (environment B), they rapidly developed a normal protozoal population and the chemical composition of their rumen bacteria became like that of the bacteria from the ‘environment C’ calves.

5. Mixed bacteria taken just before a feed, from either cows or ‘environment A’ calves, showed significantly lower RNA-N:total N ratios and slightly (but not usually significantly) higher DNA-N:total N ratios than bacteria taken 4–6 h after feeding. Total N contents of the bacteria did not change consistently with time after feeding.

6. The possible significance of these differences in relation to the nutrition of the host animal is discussed.

1. Rates of protein synthesis and catabolism were measured in longissimus dorsi and hind-limb muscles of suckling piglets.

2. Half-lives for synthesis and catabolism for mixed sarcoplasmic proteins were 4.8 and 9.4 d respectively. The corresponding values for mixed myofibrillar proteins were 5.7 and 16.4 d.

3. The half-lives for synthesis of sarcoplasmic proteins were significantly different from those of myofibrillar proteins and were not confounded by contamination of the sarcoplasmic protein fraction with plasma proteins of higher specific activity.

4. Individual myofibrillar proteins were synthesized and catabolized at rates which were not statistically significantly different. Intramuscular connective tissue also appeared to turnover rapidly, the half-life for synthesis being 8 d and that for catabolism 20 d.

5. Values obtained for the specific radioactivities of aspartate + glutamate in mixed plasma proteins support the view that, in so far as the young of animals larger in mature body size than rats or mice are concerned, muscle assumes a more important role relative to liver in regulating whole body amino acid metabolism.

1. Adult rats were fed on diets free of either lysine, methionine, threonine or protein. The threonine- and protein-deficient animals lost weight at approximately the same rate, about 100 g in 14 weeks, at which time several were moribund. In contrast, lysine-deficient animals lost only about 30 g in 14 weeks and had lost only 46 g after 22 weeks, when they were killed. Methionine-deficient animals showed an intermediate response. Losses in weight of several tissues – kidney, heart and two muscles – were related to, but not necessarily proportional to, the loss of body-weight. Liver weights relative to body-weights were large in lysine- and threonine-deficient animals and smallest in methionine-deficient animals.

2. Adult rats were fed on diets containing zero, a moderate amount (about twice the estimated minimal requirement) or an excess (about four times the estimated requirement) of lysine or threonine in all combinations (3 × 3 design). Analysis of variance of the body-weights, tissue weights and tissue nitrogen contents indicated, in general, a significant effect of each amino acid, as expected, but also, in most instances, a significant interaction. Plasma concentrations of lysine and threonine were affected by the intakes of the respective amino acids, but plasma lysine concentrations were also affected by the threonine intake.

3. Liver histology also suggested significant interactions between the two amino acids. Animals given no lysine but moderate amounts of threonine developed severely fatty livers; next most severely affected were animals receiving excess of both amino acids. Threonine deficiency, in the presence or absence of lysine, produced moderately fatty livers similar to those seen in protein-deficient animals.

4. Since animals have varying ability to conserve body nitrogen when they are fed on diets limiting in different essential amino acids, measurements of biological value (BV) and net protein utilization by conventional methods, over a short period of time, over-estimate nutritive value relative to amino acid score and probably over-estimate the true nutritive value of poor-quality proteins, particularly those limiting in lysine. If so, this is a serious error, since it leads to underestimates of the protein requirements if BV is used. The fact that certain tissues, particularly the liver, do not necessarily lose nitrogen in proportion to total body nitrogen and may show specific pathological effects depending on the limiting amino acid or the proportions of amino acids in the diet also indicates that general measures of nitrogen economy may not be sufficiently discriminating tests of the nutritive value of proteins.

1. Electroencephalographic and nerve-conduction studies were undertaken in children who had been treated in hospital for kwashiorkor 6–8 years previously; the results were compared with those for age-matched controls of similar cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.

2. The electroencephalograms were normal in all.

3. In three survivors of kwashiorkor, the amplitude of the sural nerve potential was less than that of the lower limit of the normal range.

4. The findings are discussed in the context of the present knowledge of protein-energy (protein-calorie) malnutrition.

1. Rats were given diets containing 200 g/kg of a complete or incomplete amino acid mixture or of high- or low-quality proteins. After 6 d the amino acid-incorporating activity of ribosomes from skeletal muscle and liver was studied.

2. The level of isotope incorporation relative to ribosomal RNA was similar for casein supplemented with methionine and for a complete amino acid mixture with the composition of whole-egg protein. Per wet weight of tissue there was a significant decrease after feeding with the complete amino acid mixture.

3. There was a significant decrease in activity after feeding with amino acid mixtures deficient in lysine, methionine or tryptophan. In skeletal muscle, but not in liver, the ribosomal activity was less than that obtained with wheat gluten. Activity per wet weight of both tissues was less than that obtained with wheat gluten.

4. Refeeding with methionine for 1 d resulted in complete restoration of ribosomal activity and activity per wet weight in skeletal muscle.

5. After lysine deficiency, protein synthesis per unit wet weight of both tissues and ribosomal activity in liver were not restored after 2 d of refeeding. Recovery of ribosomal activity in skeletal muscle was complete after 1 d.

6. Rats receiving the 200 g casein/kg diet supplemented with methionine at daily energy levels of 263, 176, 141 and 106 KJ (62.6, 42.1, 33.7 and 25.3 kcal) showed no changes in ribosomal activity, but there was a significant decrease in activity per wet weight when 106 KJ were given.

1. Samples of mixed bacteria were separated from rumen digesta taken from calves, kept out of contact with adult animals, and from sheep and cows.

2. For calves receiving a diet made up of equal amounts of roughage and cereals with 13–16 g nitrogen/kg dry matter, samples of mixed bacteria taken 4–6 h after feeding contained, on average, 140 g glucose in α-linked polymers (α-dextran), 25 g galactose and a total of 25 g other non-glucose, non-galactose sugars (mainly rhamnose, ribose and mannose) in combined forms per kg dry matter.

3. The α-dextran content of similar bacteria samples from sheep or cows receiving diets of similar composition was 70 g/kg dry matter. Samples from animals receiving all-roughage diets contained only 25 g α-dextran/kg dry matter, but those from cows given more than 70% of their ration as concentrates (mainly cereal) contained 150 g α-dextran/kg dry matter.

4. Addition of supplementary protein or urea to cereal–roughage diets given to calves greatly depressed the amount of α-dextran in the rumen bacterial samples to an average value of 60 g/kg dry matter.

5. Samples taken before a morning feed (i.e. after 16 h fasting) contained less α-dextran than samples taken 4–6 h after feeding for both calves and cows.

6. Under different conditions, variations in the amounts of galactose in rumen bacteria sometimes paralleled variations in α-dextran. Amounts of other non-glucose sugars did not vary greatly.

7. It was estimated, from a comparison of the compositions of rumen bacteria and duodenal contents, that, in the latter, the rhamnose, ribose and mannose came mainly from the bacteria, the arabinose, xylose and cellulose-glucose mainly from the diet and the galactose and α-dextran-glucose from both sources.

1. In one experiment according to a latin square design five sheep with fistulas in the abomasum and terminal ileum were given diets based on barley. Five diets were compared, one without protein supplementation, two with different levels of fish meal and two with combinations of fish meal and urea.

2. The amount of non-ammonia crude protein passing through the abomasum and removed from the small intestine increased linearly with fish-meal supplementation but the only effect of supplementation with urea was to increase the crude protein removed before the abomasum. It was concluded that urea did not appear to have a sparing effect on the degradation of dietary protein.

3. Seventy-eight lambs were used in a second experiment. They were given thirteen diets made up from a basal barley diet and different combinations of fish meal and urea.

4. Digestibility of organic matter and efficiency of food conversion increased with each level of fish-meal supplementation. The effects of urea supplementation on organic matter digestibility and efficiency of food conversion depended upon the level of fish meal in the diet and at the highest level of fish-meal supplementation there were no effects.

5. The maximum digestibility of organic matter (about 820 g/kg) could be achieved both with urea alone and fish meal alone and was attained at a lower level of nitrogen in the diet with urea. In contrast, the maximum food conversion efficiency that could be achieved with a fish-meal supplement was much greater than could be obtained with a supplement of urea alone.

1. Studies have been made of the effects of different concentrations of either free or esterified linoleic acid on the biohydrogenation of linoleic acid by rumen micro-organisms in vitro. A comparison has been made with the changes which occurred in the fatty acid compositions of rumen free fatty acids and plasma triglycerides of sheep given intraruminal infusions of linoleic acid or maize oil.

2. In the in vitro experiments, with increasing concentrations of 18:2 added as the free fatty acid, a decreasing proportion of this 18:2 was hydrogenated to 18:0 and trans-11-octadecenoic acid accumulated. The accumulation of large amounts of trans-11-octadecenoic acid was accompanied in all instances by the accumulation of a conjugated diene identified as cis-9, trans-11-octadecadienoic acid. There appeared to be a product–precursor relationship between the conjugated diene and the trans-11 monoene.

3. When linoleic acid was presented in vitro as the triglyceride, the extent to which hydrogenation occurred was, in all instances, greater than when equivalent amounts of 18:2 were presented as the free acid. Only small amounts of the cis-9, trans-11 diene were detected, and there was no apparent product–precursor relationship between this conjugated diene and the C18 monoenoic acids. The C18 monoenoic acids that accumulated consisted of both cis and trans isomers; the cis isomers consisted largely of cis-9- and cis-11-octadecenoic acids, which together comprised about 30% of the C18 monoenoic acids present.

4. The infusion of free linoleic acid into the rumen of sheep resulted in an increase in the proportion of total 18:1 and a decrease in the proportions of 16:0 and 18:0 in the total rumen free fatty acids. This increase which occurred in the concentration of 18:1 consisted predominantly of the trans-11 isomer. A concomitant increase in the concentration of the C18trans-11 acid was observed to occur in the fatty acids of the plasma triglycerides. Infusion of maize oil into the rumen of sheep resulted in little change in the fatty acid compositions of either the free fatty acids in the rumen or the triglycerides of the plasma.

5. The findings in vitro and in vivo are discussed with reference to each other and with reference to the possibility that biohydrogenation of 18:2 derived from the triglyceride proceeds by a different pathway from that of 18:2 presented as the free acid.

1. Ten severely malnourished children were studied.

2. During recovery the mean energy intake was 916 kJ (219 kcal)/kg per d when the children were fed ad lib. on a high-energy milk preparation.

3. When a lower-energy milk preparation was given ad lib. the children voluntarily increased the volume consumed but the mean energy intake fell to 703 kJ (168 kcal)/kg per d.

4. After recovery the children no longer consumed an increased volume when the lower-energy milk preparation was offered.

5. The results provide further evidence of the importance of feeding with a high-energy preparation for the treatment of malnutrition, and demonstrate that additional benefits can be obtained by offering such mixtures ad lib.