The Excretion of Nitrogen by the Rat in Vitamin B6 Deficiency

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Abstract
The excretion of nitrogen and its urinary partition were studied in rats which showed impairment of growth from deprivation of vitamin B6 on a diet containing 40% of protein. Comparison was made with two control groups: animals which had received the same amount of food, and those whose growth had been restricted by feeding them smaller amounts of food. For a short period preceding, and during the metabolic tests the animals were fed on the basis of body weight. The vitamin B6-deficient animals excreted more urea in relation to the ingested nitrogen than the controls which had previously been maintained on the same level of food intake. In this respect their nitrogen metabolism was similar to that of the controls whose growth had been restricted to the same extent by limitation of food intake. The results are in harmony with other findings regarding the state of nitrogen metabolism in vitamin B6-deficient rats, and they point to an increased oxidation of amino acids.