ALTERATIONS IN THE BLOOD CHEMISTRY OF CHICKS TREATED WITH THE ENDOTOXIN OF SALMONELIA PULLORUM

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Abstract
Chromatographic analyses of the blood of chicks treated with the endotoxin of S. pullorum showed that during intoxication the concentrations of arginine, glycine and methionine are reduced. Paralleling the reductions in concentrations of these essential amino acids, the levels of nonprotein nitrogen, urea, creatinine, uric acid, ammonia, and inorganic P are increased. Blood sugar decreases at 24 hours following treatment with endotoxin. Administration of arginine to intoxicated chicks causes a reduction in the peripheral blood ammonia which is accompanied by an increase in blood urea. A metabolic pattern involving the known pathway for creatinine synthesis and the Krebs ornithine cycle was suggested to account, in part, for the disappearance of amino acids from the blood, for the increased blood urea and creatinine, and for the conversion of blood ammonia into other substances, especially, urea, and creatinine. The protective action of arginine for intoxicated chicks was attributed to its ability to increase the capacity of the suggested metabolic pattern to convert blood ammonia into less toxic end products.