Cecal Coccidiosis and Carbohydrate Metabolism in Chickens

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Abstract
The inadequacy of any present theory in explaining the effects of cecal coccidiosis on the chicken host stimulated an investigation of certain phases of carbohydrate metabolism in the chicken during the acute stages of the infection. Incubating chicken brain homogenates in media containing phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated carbohydrate intermediates, it was found that the addition of material taken from the infected cecum materially inhibited the phosphorylation process. The R.Q.''s of chicken muscle were also found to be lowered during an acute infection. It is, therefore, possible that the physiological effects of cecal coccidia on the chicken may be mediated through an interference with carbohydrate metabolism.