Studies on the Coagulation of Chicken Blood. II. Unidentified Nutritional Factors, Essential for Maximum Level of kappa-factor.

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Abstract
By nutritional experiments it has been shown that the level of x-factor in chicken plasma depends on the composition of the diet, and that the x-factor level is determined by the simultaneous presence of a set of nutritional factors, 6 of which are of unidentified nature. Besides vitamin K, nutritional factors in barley, wheat bran, pancreas powder, corn oil, dried skimmed milk, and alfalfa are required for maximal x-factor activity. A diet is described which is adequate for maintaining the plasma x-factor concentration at a maximal level during the experimental periods. When the diet is fed to chickens with low levels of x-factor, their x-factor concentration is raised to the maximal level. The extraction and preliminary concentration of the active principles in the essential ingredients of this diet is described. One of these factors is a lipo-soluble compound. It is non-saponifiable and may be a hydrocarbon containing a few polar groups. The other 5 factors are water-soluble compounds, probably containing nitrogen. It is suggested that the factors influence the x-factor level of plasma by affecting the formation of x-factor. They may be catalysts for this process or essential parts of the x-factor molecule.