Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 March 2007
1. Three groups of cockerels were reared from 3 to 11 weeks of age on increasingly severe quantitative food restriction treatments, resulting in body-weight values of 12, 19 and 27% below that of a control group which was fed ab lib.
2. The rate of uptake of L-arginine, glycine, L-lysine and L-phenylalanine was measured in vitro using intestinal rings, over a 5 min incubation period.
3. Uptake of L-arginine was significantly increased with increasing degrees of body-weight restriction. This amino acid and L-lysine were the only two to show a significantly enhanced uptake rate as a result of the restriction treatments.
4. No significant differences were noted in the case of glycine or L-phenylalanine uptake following food restriction, indicating a certain selectivity in the alteration of absorption rates following food restriction, when such tests are conducted in vitro.