Renal and Biochemical Changes Produced in Broilers by High-Protein, High-Calcium, Urea-Containing, and Vitamin-A-Deficient Diets

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Abstract
High-protein (42.28%), high-Ca (3.37%), urea-containing (5%), vitamin A-deficient, or control diets were given to 300, 18 day old male chicks (Arbor Acre) divided into 5 groups of 60 each to study the effect of nutritional imbalances on the development of nephritis and related biochemical changes over 15 wk. The first 4 diets increased the levels of glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, glutamate pyruvate transaminase, uric acid and nonprotein N in serum. Blood urea was increased by only the urea diet. Hypoglycemia and a decrease in hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase were also observed in chicks fed the first 4 diets. The vitamin A deficient diet resulted in a depletion of vitamin A in the liver and kidneys. These changes were directly correlated with the prolonged feeding of experimental diets, and also with the severity of nephritis and degenerative changes in various organs. Increasing the intake of N or Ca to increase production may have the opposite effect, leading to degenerative changes in various tissues and to nephritis.