Interrelationship of Plasma Amino Acid Levels and Weight Gain in the Chick as Influenced by Suboptimal and Superoptimal Dietary Concentrations of Single Amino Acids

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Abstract
The concentration of either lysine, arginine or valine was varied over a wide range, in a basal diet containing crystalline amino acids in order to study the relationship between weight gain and the concentration of free amino acids in the blood plasma of chicks. It was shown that the first-limiting amino acid in the diet remains at a very low and constant level in the blood irrespective of the severity of the deficiency. Increments in excess of the amount needed to maximize weight gain resulted in a rapid and linear accumulation of that amino acid in the blood. Since the point at which the amino acid starts to accumulate in the plasma coincides with the break in the growth curve, it is concluded that the plasma technique can be used to determine the chick's requirement for amino acids.