Effect of Severe Protein-Calorie Malnutrition in the Baby Pig upon Relative Utilization of Different Dietary Proteins

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A comparison was made of the nutritive value of several protein sources in normal rats using the conventional protein efficiency ratio, and in baby pigs that were malnourished by subjecting them to a diet low in protein and high in fat. The dietary proteins included casein, a heat-treated soybean meal, 3 different cottonseed preparations and a fish flour that had been used by others in infant feeding studies. In the protein efficiency measurements most of the proteins were essentially equivalent, although two of the cottonseed preparations were somewhat lower than the other proteins. In the malnourished baby pig casein was definitely superior to all other proteins on the basis of the rate of return of serum protein values to normal and the rate of weight gain. These observations have been related to recent reports showing the superiority of milk over fish protein concentrate in stimulating serum protein and growth rate responses in infants recovering from protein-calorie malnutrition. It is proposed that the nutritional quality of protein for feeding malnourished infants should be evaluated in experimental animals simulating protein-calorie malnutrition in addition to conventional procedures utilizing the normal animal. Furthermore, the hypothesis is presented that the superiority of milk protein is due to its better proteolytic digestion under conditions in which digestive enzymes are seriously deficient.