The present study was performed in order to investigate the effect of chronic heat exposure (32",constant) on growth, body composition and energy retention of broiler chickens in relation to age. At 2and 4 weeks of age, fifty-four male Shaver broiler chickens were allocated to three treatments accordingto the following design: 22", ad lib. feeding (22AL); 32", ad lib. feeding (32AL); and 22", pair-feeding with the 32" group (22PF). Ambient temperature was kept constant at either 22 or 32" for 2 weeks. Heatexposure decreased feed intake by 14% YO between 2 and 4 weeks and by 24% YO between 4 and 6 weeks of age. Even with the same feed intake, chicks gained less weight at 32" than at 22", 55% less in young chickens and 22% less in older ones. Hot environmental conditions thus resulted in decreased feed efficiency; the feed:gain ratio was 2·85 at 32" compared with 2·06 at 22" in 22AL birds for the period4—6 weeks. Body composition appeared significantly affected by high ambient temperature. Feathering was reduced at 32" in absolute weight but not as a proportion of body weight. Heat-exposed birds showed a decrease in body protein content, protein gain and protein retention. Group 32AL birds were fatter than the pair-fed (22PF) or ad fib.-fed (22AL) groups at 22". The percentage of energy retained as fat was 79 in heat-exposed chickens compared with 64 in the control groups. The energy retained as protein:energy retained as fat for groups maintained at 22" (0·56) was twice that forthose maintained at 32" (0·28). These modifications should be investigated further in relation to metabolic and endocrinological changes.

The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of replacement of fat by sucrose polyester (SPE) within a lunch or evening meal on subsequent energy intake and appetite control. The 2 × 2 design was intended to examine the effect on appetite of reducing the total energy and fat content of a meal (lunch or dinner) by replacement of natural fat with 55 g SPE. The effects were monitored by measuring motivation to eat or actual food consumption during the remainder of the test day (day 1) and throughout the following day (day 2). The 2 × 2 design yielded four conditions which were a control meal (5192 kJ, 73·2 g fat) and a fat-replaced meal (3305 kJ, 54·6 g SPE, 24 g fat) at midday (lunch) or in the early evening (dinner). No significant differences were seen in ad lib. energy intake after the test meals on day 1 or day 2. Certain differences were detected in fat intake on day 2 but these did not suggest nutrient compensation in response to the fat replacement. Subjective assessment of motivation to eat did not indicate that the fat-reduced meal had a weaker satiating efficiency than the control meal. A reduction in fat content, using fat replacement, did not reduce the satiating efficiency of a test meal given at lunch or dinner. No energy or macronutrient compensation occurred following the reduction in energy or fat intake during the rest of the test day or during the whole of the next day.

The effect of adding cottonseed hulls to casein- and cottonseed-kernel-based diets on the apparent and true ileal digestibility of N and amino acids, and the proportion of this effect accounted for by condensed tannin (CT), were determined using the growing rat. Sixtyrats were allocated randomly to ten semi- purified diets, containing either casein (four diets) or purified unheated solvent-extracted cottonseed kernel (six diets) as the sole protein source, with Cr2O3 added as an indigestible marker. Two of the casein diets contained no hulls whilst the remaining two diets contained 70 g cottonseed hulls/kg. Two of the cottonseed-kernel-based diets contained no hulls, with two containing 23 g hulls/kg and the remaining two containing 46 g hulls/kg. For each pair of diets, PEG was either included or excluded. The effect of CT was quantified by comparing control rats (-PEG; CTacting) with PEG-supplemented rats (+PEG; CT inactivated) at each level of dietary hulls. The rats were given their respective experimental diets for 14 d. Each rat was given the food ad libitumfor 10 min hourly from 08·00 to 18·00 hours. On day 14, samples of digesta were collected at death from the terminal 150 mm of ileum at 7 h from the first meal. Apparent and true ileal digestibilities were calculated for DM, N and the individual amino acids. The principal finding was that the inclusion of hulls depressed the apparent and true ileal digestibilities of N and amino acids, but with the response differing between diets. With the casein-based diet the mean apparent and true ileal amino acid digestibilities were significantly depressed from 0·89 and 0·96 to 0·85 and 0·92 respectively, by the inclusion of 70 g hulls/kg in the diet, and addition of PEG then restored these to 0·89 and 0·95. All of the depression could be explained by the CT content of the hulls. However, with the cottonseed-kernel-based diet the responses fell into three categories. The apparent and true ileal digestibilities of the essential amino acids cystine and methionine were not affected by hull addition, ileal digestibilities of leucine, isoleucine, lysine, threonine and valine were markedly depressed by hull addition with approximately 50% of the depression being explained by CT, whilst the ileal digestibilities of histidine, arginine and phenylalanine were depressed by hull addition but little or none of this effect could be explained by CT. Thus the effect of hulls on protein digestion clearly differed with source of protein. With the cottonseed-kernel-based diet it seems that components of the hulls other than CT also depressed the apparent and true ileal digestibilities of N and amino acids. The identity of these components is unknown.

The recent recognition of the problem of adult malnutrition requires methods for specifying the severity of undernutrition. The measurement of mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) can now be used as a screening method for underweight (normally assessed from the BMI) or as an additional criterion with the BMI to identify the preferential loss of peripheral tissue stores of fat and protein. By analysing and extrapolating anthropometric data from nine detailed adult surveys from Asia, Africa and the Pacific a series of MUAC cut-off points have now been identified to allow the screening of individual adults under extreme conditions, e.g. during famine. Grade 4 malnutrition is now specified for those with a MUAC <200 mm for men and <190 mm for women since these MUAC values correspond to the loss of fat stores at BMI of <13. Food supplementation is clearly needed in these individuals. Extreme wasting (grade 5 malnutrition) corresponds to MUAC values of <170 and <160 mm for men and women respectively. These adults have extremely low BMI, i.e. about 10, have lost mast, if not all, of their protein stores and are at a high risk of imminent death. These individuals will need immediate special feeding regimens to ensure their sumval. The sex-specific MUAC values corresponding to BMI of 16, 13 and 10 can now therefore be used for rapid screening and the choice of remedial action.

To investigate possible differences in the relationship between multi-frequency impedance and bodywater compartments (total body water (TBW) and extracellular water (ECW)) measured by dilution techniques in two European populations, we studied forty Italian (twenty male and twenty female) and forty-three Dutch (twenty-three male and twenty female) healthy subjects aged 19–41 years. The main differences in body build between the two groups were height, trunk length and the two ratios TBW/height and ECW/height. Population-specific prediction formulas for ECW (at 1 kHz) and TBW (at 100 kHz) were developed. The prediction errors for ECW and TBW were about 0·6 and 1·5 kg respectively, (CV 4%) in both groups. Cross-validation analysis showed no significant error in the prediction of TBW but a slight error (range – 4·9 to + 2·8 %) in the ECW prediction. The biases in both TBW and ECW were correlated with ECW/TBW (r – 0·44, P < 0·0005 and r + 0·52, P <0·0005 respectively) in the two groups; the biases in ECW were also related to ECWIheight (r 0·51, P < 0·001), TBW/height (r 0·25, P < 0·05), trunk length (r 0·36, P < 0·001) and Z1/Z100 (r 0·32, P < 0·01). In conclusion, the water distribution between the extra- and intracellular compartments emerged in the present study as the major cause of error in the prediction of body water, and in particular of ECW from impedance measurements with a population-specific equation. Moreover, body build, expressed as TBW/height and ECW/height, had an impact on the bias.

The cholesterolaemic effects in rats of a diet (VS) containing Bambara groundnuts (Vignu subterrunea), a popular legume eaten in Nigeria, were compared with diets PV, PS, LC and PL, containing baked beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), marrowfat peas (Pisum sativum), lentils (Lens culinaris Medik.) and butter beans (Phaseolus lunatus) respectively. Sixty Sprague-Dawley rats were fed on hypercholesterolaemic semi-purified diets supplemented with 10 g cholesterol and 5 g cholic acid/kg and formulated to provide 40% of energy from fat, as in a typical Western-type human diet. Legumes were substituted for 330 g/kg of the semi-purified diet on a dry-matter basis, which was modified to maintain the same contribution of energy sources as the control diet C3. Another ten rats were fed on control diet C2, which was similar to diet C3 but with no added cholesterol. The rats were fed for 8 weeks and plasma cholesterol levels were measured at weeks 4 and 8. The diets incorporating the five different legume species produced very Merent cholesterolaemic effects. Diets PV and PL were more potent at lowering raised plasma cholesterol levels than diets PS and LC. Inclusion of the Bambara groundnut into the semi-purified diet resulted in an exaggeration of hypercholesterolaemia. Differences in cholesterol-lowering capacity of the various legume diets in this experiment could not be related to concentrations of faecal bile acids or neutral sterols. However, there was evidence that the inclusion of legumes in the diets reduced the faecal excretion of secondary bile acids

Male 1-d-old broilers (n 920) were given 0, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000 and 1200 U microbial pbytase/kg diet in combination with 2·0, 2·7 or 3·4 g non-phytate P (nP)/kg or 4·0, 5·1 or 5·8 g total P (tP)/kg in a 21 d trial to assess the effectiveness of phytase in a maize–soyabean-meal diet. In addition to the above twenty-one diets, a positive control P diet supplied 4·5 g nP/kg, 6·9 g tP/kg and 10 g Ca/kg. The basal diet contained 230g crude protein/kg, 8·8 g Ca/kg, 4·4 g tP/Fg and 2/0 g nP/kg. Defluorinated phosphate and limestone were used to supply P and Ca. A Ca:tP ratio of 2:l was maintained except in the positive control diet which had a ratio of 1·45: 1. Phytase additions linearly increased (P < 0·01) body-weight (SW) gain, feed intake, toe ash percentage, and apparent retention (% of intake) or total amount (g/bird) of retained Ca and P, and linearly decreased (P < 0·01) P excretion (g/kg of DM intake) at each level of nP with the magnitude of the response inversely related to the level of nP. Above-normal mortality was only observed in the group receiving 2·0 g nP/kg diet without phytase. Adding nP linearly increased (P < 0·01) BW gain, feed intake, toe ash percentage, Ca retention, total amount (g/bird) of P retained, and P excretion, and iinearly decreased (P < 0·01) apparent retention (%) of P. Derived linear and non-linear equations for BW gain and toe ash percentage at the two lower nP levels, 2·0 and 2·7 g/kg, were used to calculate P equivalency value of microbial phytase. The results show that 939 U microbial phytase is equivalent to 1 g P from defluorinated phosphate in broilers fed on maize–soyabean-meal diets. The amount of P released per 100 U phytase decreased as the total amount of phytase increased.

The present study compares estimates of rumen microbial-N production derived from duodenal flow measurements (15N and purine bases) with those from measurements of the urinary excretion of purine derivatives. Four Rasa Aragonesa ewes fitted with simple cannulas in the rumen and proximal duodenum were used. Four diets consisting of 550 g lucerne (Medicago sativa) hay/d as sole feed or supplemented with 220, 400 and 550 g rolled barley grain/d were given in a 4 x 4 random factorial arrangement. Duodenal digesta flows were determined by the dual-phase marker technique during continuous intraruminal infusions of Co-EDTA and Yb-acetate. Microbial contribution to the non-NH3N (NAN)flow was estimated from 15N enrichment and purines: N ratio in duodenal digesta and bacterial fractions isolated from the rumen content. Whole tract organic matter (OM) digestibility and duodenal flow of OM and NAN increased (P<0·001) with the level of barley supplementation. Digestible OM intake ranged from 19·0 to 42·7 g/kg metabolic weight (W0·75) and the duodenal flow of purine bases and the urinary excretion of allantoin increased Linearly (P < 0·001) from minimum values of 7·47 (SD 1·524)and 4·65 (SD 0·705) mmol/d respectively on the basal diet to 18·20 (SD 1·751) and 11·62 (SD 0·214) mmol/d on the 400 g barley diet; a further increase in barley supplementation decreased both variables (13/50 (SD 2/334) and 8/77 (SD 0/617) mmol/d respectively). Urinary excretion of uric acid and hypoxanthine showed a slight but significant increase (P < 0·05) over all levels of barley. Molar recoveries of duodenal purine bases as purine derivatives or allantoin in the urine were 0·78 (SD 0·156) and 0·65 (SD 0·130) respectively. The increase on barley supplementation significantly augmented microbial-N, but large differences between microbial markers employed were observed. Mean values of microbial-N estimated from the duodenal purine bases or urinary allantoin excretion were on average 18 and 29% lower than those measured by 15N.

The present study was undertaken to provide detailed information about the effect of fibre source (pea fibre, wheat bran or oat bran) at inclusion levels of 0, 187 and 375 g/kg diet on the development of the digestive tract, nutrient digestibility and energy and protein metabolism in broiler chickens. Heat production was measured using open-air-circuit respiration chambers. Diets with increasing levels of pea fibre decreased the DM in droppings and increased excreta output (2·5-fold) relative to DM intake. Adaptation to increased dietary fibre levels included increases in the size of the digestive system, with pea fibre exerting a stronger impact than wheat bran or oat bran. The length of the intestine, and particularly the length and weight of the caecum, increased with the fibre level. The digestibility of all nutrients also decreased with increasing fibre level. The decrease in the digestibility in relation to NSP for the three fibre sources was bigger for oat bran (0·0020 per g dietary NSP) than for pea fibre and wheat bran (0·0014 and 0·0016 per g dietary NSP) indicating that the cell walls in oat bran (aleurone and subaleurone) had a significant negative effect on the digestibility of cellular nutrients, i.e. protein and fat. The degradation of the NSP constituents was far lower in chickens than found in other animal species such as pigs and rats, thus supporting the view that chickens do not ferment fibre polymers to a great extent. Excretion of organic acids (mainly lactic acid and acetic acid) accounted for up to 2% of metabolizable energy (ME) intake with the highest excretion for the high-fibre diets. H2 excretion was related to the amount of NSP degraded and indicated higher microbial fermentation with increasing fibre levels. The chickens' feed intake responded to a great extent to dietary ME concentration but expressed in terms of metabolic body size (W0·75) ME intake was depressed at the high fibre levels. Dietary NSP was able to explain between 86% (oat bran) and 96% (pea fibre) of the variation in ME concentration. The amount of energy available from fermentation of NSP appears to reach a maximum of 42 KJ/d independent of fibre source and level. Expressed in relation to ME intake the NSP fermentation contributed 3-4%. With increasing fibre intake the partitioning of retained energy between body protein and body fat changed in favour of protein.

Indian River male broiler chickens growing from 7 to 30 d of age were fed on diets containing crude protein levels ranging from 120 to 3041 g/kg plus 0 or 1 mg triiodothyronine (T3/)kg diet. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of these treatments on lipogenesis after a common diet was fed (180 g crude protein/kg diet from 30 to 56 d of age). Dietary treatment groups were sampled at 30 and 56 d. In vitro lipogenesis was determined by incubating liver explants for 2h at 37°in Hanks' salts containing 25 mM-HEPES and 10 mM-[2-14C]acetate and then measuring acetate incorporation into total lipid. Growth and feedconsumption from 7 to 30 d increased (P<0·01) as dietary protein increased from 120 to 210 g/kg diet. Both measurements decreased as crude protein increased from 210 to 300 g/kg diet.T, decreased (P<0·01) growth and feed intake during this period.Low-protein (<180 g/kg) diets increased (P<0·05) and T3, decreased lipogenesis in 30-d-old chickens. Although birds given T3from 7 to 30 dgrew at the greatest rate from 30 to 56 d of age, the final body weight was still less than controls.In vifm lipogenesis at 56 d of age was not affected by either of the two dietary treatments. In contrast, the relative size of the abdominal fat pad (g/kg body weight) at 56 d was decreased by feeding T3from 7 to 30 d. Any changes in metabolism elicited by either dietary protein levels or hormone treatments may be specific to the particular dosing interval and are not sustained when acommon diet is fed during a repletion period.

The urinary excretion of purine derivatives (PD) was measured in six buffaloes (Bubalis bubalis) during fasting and in fourteen buffaloes given four restricted levels of roughage (2·5-4·8 kg DM/d). Only allantoin and uric acid, not xanthine and hypoxanthine, were present in the urine, the pattern of excretion being similar to that in cattle. The fasting PD excretion amounted to 0·20 (SD 0·06) mmol/kg metabolic weight (W0·75) per d, and the rate of PD excretion as a linear function of feed intake was 5·2 mmol/kg digestible organic matter intake. Both values were considerably lower than the values for cattle reported in the literature. Creatinine excretion values were 0·33 (SD 0·06) and 0·44 (SD 0·09) mmol/kg W0.75 per d determined in fasting and feeding periods respectively. Fasting N excretion was 257 (SD 49) mg N/kg W0.75 per d. Both creatinine and fasting N excretions were also lower than in cattle. The activities of xanthine oxidase (EC 1.2.3.2) in plasma, liver and intestinal mucosa were determined in buffaloes, cattle and sheep. Xanthine oxidase activities in buffaloes were 24·5 (SD 2·7) unit/l plasma and 0·44 (SD 0·02) and 0·31 (SD 0·10) unit/g fresh tissue in liver and intestinal mucosa respectively. These activities were higher than those in cattle and sheep. Xanthine oxidase was practically absent from plasma and intestine of sheep. It is suggested that the differences in PD excretion between buffaloes and cattle were probably due to the smaller proportion of plasma PD that was disposed of in the urine of buffaloes.

Minke whales (Balaenopteva acutorostruta) have developed a compartmentalized stomach system, which includes a non-glandular forestomach containing high concentrations of indigenous bacteria. The forestomach contents serve as microbial substrate, and samples were collected from fiveadult minke whales eating capelin (Mallotus villosus) and crustaceans (Thysanoessa sp.). Chemical analysis of the forestomach contents revealed that they consisted of crude protein (650 (SD 58) g/kg DM), lipid (330 (SD77) g/kg DM) and water-soluble carbohydrates (53.3 (SD 7·3) g/kg DM). The contribution of energy from volatile fatty acids (VFA), produced by forestomach bacterial fermentation, to the total energy budget was estimated. The forestomach concentration ofVFA ranged from 13·2 to 68·5 mmol/l, and the pH was 5·83 (SD 0·41). VFA pool size ranged from 72·8 to 638·1 mmol and represented from 0·169 to 2·107 kJ/kg live weight (W)0·75 Maximal recorded forestomach VFA production rate was 1694 mmol/h in one capelin-eating minke whalewith 42·6 litres of forestomach fluid. Energy from VFA produced by forestomach fermentation represented 6–107 kJ/kg w0·75 per d, which accounts for only 0·9–16·9% of the average daily energy expenditure of minke whales. This study suggests that the bacterial fermentation in the minke whale forestomach varies, depending on the volume and the quality of substrate available, inlinencing fermentation rates and concentration of VFA. Due to the small relative size of the forestomach, the contribution of VFA to the daily energy requirement in minke whales would be of less importance than in ruminants even when assuming the same production rate of VFA as in a ruminant.

We analysed the respective influences of age and lysine deficiency on skeletal muscle and liver protein turnover. Growing male broilers were fed ad libirum on isoenergetic diets containing 2OO g crude protein/kg which varied in their lysine content (7·7 or 10·1 g/kg). Fractional rates of protein synthesis (FSR) were measured in vivo in the liver and the pectoralis major muscle of 2-, 3- and 4-week-old chickens (flooding dose of l-[143H]phenylalanine). Fractional rates of proteolysis (FBR) were estimated for the same tissues as the difference between synthesis and growth. Over the 2-week period liver FSR and FBR were unchanged, whereas muscle FSR decreased with age. This developmental decline was related to the lower capacity for protein synthesis (Cs) without any modifications of the translational efficiency. Whatever the age, lysine deficiency resulted in significant decreases in body weight, tissue protein content and tissue protein deposition, apparently because of reduced amounts of proteins synthesized. We recorded a difference in the response of the two tissues to lysine deficiency, the pectoralis major being more sensitive than the liver. When comparing birds of the same age, liver FSR and FBR were not modified by the diet, where as muscle FSR, Cs and FBR were higher in chicks fed on a lysinc-deficient diet than in the controls. Conversely, when chicks of similar weights were compared, the main effect of the dietary deficiency was an increase in muscle FBR. The results suggest that lysine deficiency not only delayed chick development so that protein turnover was affected, but also induced greater changes in metabolism. Thus, the principal mechanism whereby muscle mass decreased appeared to be a change in FBR.

The response in whole-body and splanchnic tissue mass and isotope amino acid transfers in both plasma and blood has been studied in sheep offered 800 g lucerne (Medicago sutiva) pellets/d. Amino acid mass transfers were quantified over a 4 h period,by arterio-venous procedures, across the portal-drained viscera (PDV) and liver on day 5 of an intravenous infusion of either vehicle or the methylated products, choline (0.5 g/d) plus creatine (10 g/d). Isotopic movements were monitored over the same period during a 10 h infusion of a mixture of U-13C-labelled amino acids obtained from hydrolysis of labelled algal cells. Sixteen amino acids were monitored by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, with thirteen of these analysed within a single chromatographic analysis. Except for methionine, which is discussed in a previous paper, no significant effects of choline plus creatine infusion were observed on any of the variables reported. Whole-body protein irreversible-loss rates ranged from 158 to 245 g/d for the essential amino acids, based on the relative enrichments (dilution of the U-13C molecules by those unlabelled) of free amino acids in arterial plasma, and 206-519 g/d, when blood free amino acid relative enrichments were used for the calculations. Closer agreement was obtained between lysine, threonine, phenylalanine and the branched-chain amino acids. Plasma relative enrichments always exceeded those in blood (P < 0.001), possibly due to hydrolysis of peptides or degradation of protein within the erythrocyte or slow equilibration between plasma and the erythrocyte. Net absorbed amino acids across the PDV were carried predominantly in the plasma. Little evidence was obtained of any major and general involvement of the erythrocytes in the transport of free amino acids from the liver. Net isotope movements also supported these findings. Estimates of protein synthesis rates across the PDV tissues from [U-13C] leucine kinetics showed good agreement with previous values obtained with single-labelled leucine. Variable rates were obtained between the essential amino acids, probably due to different intracellular dilutions. Isotope dilution across the liver was small and could be attributed predominantly to uni-directional transfer from extracellular sources into the hepatocytes and this probably dominates the turnover of the intracellular hepatic amino acid pools.

To elucidate further the influences of dietary fat on autoimmune diseases, two groups of NZB/W F1 mice were fed with diets containing 200 g dietary fat/kg and 50 g dietary fat/kg (control) respectively. The difference in energy intake between these two groups was compensated with carbohydrate. Mice were bled regularly every month and some of them were killed for in vitro experiments after 5 months experimental diets. Higher immunoglobulin (Ig)M and IgG anti-double stranded DNA antibody levels, shortened life span and worsened proteinuria were noted in mice fed on the high-fat diet compared with those fed on 50g dietary fat/kg. Phenotypic analyses of spleen cells and peritoneal exudate cells showed that the percentage of CD5+ B cells and the mean fluorescent intensity of major histocompatibility molecules on the surface of both types of cells were higher in mice fed on the high-fat diet. In general, higher type 2 T-helper cell activity was noted in mice fed on the high-fat diet. In addition, cytokines such as interleukin-6, tumour necrosis factor-α and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) produced by lipopolysaccharide-stimulated peritoneal exudate cells were also higher in the high-dietary-fat group. These studies suggest that high dietary fat and its related PGE2 level might have a critical effect on the frequency of CD5+ B cells, cytokine production, macrophage function and subsequent autoimmune regulation in autoimmune mice.

Whole-body fatty acid analysis in rats has previously shown that 50–70% of dietary linoleate and α-linolenate is β-oxidized to CO2 and that this value increases with refeeding after a single episode of fasting. Our hypothesis was that repeated fasting-refeeding or weight-cycling would increase the β-oxidation of linoleate and α-linolenate thereby depleting their whole-body levels. In rats consuming 3% energy as linoleate and 0·15 % energy as α-linolenate during a 16 d balance period, 19% of the linoleate consumed accumulated in weight-cycled rats compared with 34% in the free-fed controls (P < 0.01). Similarly, 11% of the α-linolenate consumed accumulated in the weight-cycled rats compared with 22% in the controls (P < 0.01). Arachidonate and docosahexaenoate also accumulated to lower extents in the weight-cycled rats than in the controls. In contrast, whole-body accumulation of palmitate, stearate and oleate was not different between the weight-cycled group and the controls when measured as a proportion of intake or relative to weight gain. Thus, whole-body depletion of linoleate and α-linolenate did not occurper se but the partitioning of linoleate and α-linolenate was significantly altered by weight-cycling resulting in lower whole-body accumulation and higher apparent oxidation of all polyunsaturates especially linoleate and α-linolenate.

In three experiments broiler chickens were inoculated with sporulated Eimeria acervulina oocysts at 18 d of age. Feed intake, body-weight gain, brush-border enzyme activities, fat digestion, protein digestion and protein retention were measured. Body-weight gain was reduced during the acute phase of the infection and increased during the recovery phase of the infection. Feed intake was decreased on day 4 and day 5 postinfection (PI) and increased from day 7 to day 11 PI. Maltase (EC 3.2.1.20) and sucrase (ECEC 3.2.1.48) activities were decreased on day 5 PI in all intestinal segments. In Expts 2 and 3, however, maltase activity was increased in the ileum. Fat digestion was decreased from day 2 to day 11 PI. N digestion and retention were decreased from day 2 to day 11 PI.

The effect of alcohol on overnight energy expenditure and substrate disposal was studied in eleven subjects (five men, six women) using whole-body indirect calorimetry for 15·5 h after test meals. Three test meals were studied in random order with at least 48 h between treatments: control, 50% of maintenance energy needs provided as 14, 40 and 46% energy from protein, fat and carbohydrate respectively; alcohol addition, control plus 23% energy as alcohol; alcohol substitution, control with alcohol replacing 23% of carbohydrate energy. ANOVA revealed no significant sex effects. Alcoholinduced thermogenesis dissipated only 15 (SD 14)% of the alcohol energy. Alcohol addition had no significant effect on protein or carbohydrate oxidation but fat oxidation was suppressed (P < 0·0005) to an extent equivalent to storing 74 (SD 51)% of the alcohol energy as fat. Alcohol substitution reduced carbohydrate oxidation (P < 0·009) to an equivalent of 42 (SD 41)% and also spared fat (P < 0·005) to an equivalent of 59 (SD 37)% of the alcohol energy. It is concluded that alcohol has no special thermogenic capacity, and that its energy can be accounted for in a similar way to carbohydrate.

The present study aimed to assess the metabolic consequences of the chronic ingestion of two starches giving different postprandial glycaemic responses in normal and diabetic rats. The two starches chosen were mung-bean (Phaseolus aureus) starch (97% pure starch) and wheat starch presented as ground French toast. First, we studied the characteristics of these two starches. In vitro the α-amylase (EC 3.2.1.1) digestibilities of these starches were 40 (SE 3) and 62 (SE 4)% respectively at 30 min, whereas the contents of resistant starch were 77 (SE 4) and 22 (SE 4) g/kg respectively. In vivo the mung-bean starch produced lower postprandial glycaemic responses than the wheat starch (areas under the curve were: 91 (SE 28) and 208 (SE 33) mmol.min/I, P < 0·05) in normal rats (n 8). We then submitted twenty-eight normal and twenty-eight diabetic (neonatal streptozotocin on second day of birth) male Sprague-Dawley rats (6 weeks old) to a diet containing 570 g starch/kg as either mung-bean starch or wheat starch (n 14 rats/group). After 5 weeks on the diets food intakes and body weights were identical in each group. Liver and kidney weights were comparable when expressed as relative weight. The mung-bean-starch diet slightly decreased epididymal fat-pad weight (P < 0·14, ANOVA) and led to a marked decrease in adipocyte volume (P < 0·05). Plasma triacylglycerol and phospholipid concentrations were lower after the mung-bean-starch diet than after the wheat-starch diet in both normal and diabetic rats, whereas free fatty acid concentrations were lower only in normal rats. Similarly, non-fasting plasma glucose concentrations decreased (P < 0·05) in normal rats fed on mung-bean starch but not in diabetic ones (P < 0·14). Insulin levels tended to be lower, but not significantly, after mung-bean-starch feeding than after wheat starch. We conclude that the replacement of 570 g wheat starch/kg diet with mung-bean starch for 5 weeks resulted in (1) lowered non-fasting plasma glucose and free fatty acid levels in normal but not in diabetic rats, (2) a reduction in plasma triacylglycerol concentration and adipocyte volume in both normal and diabetic rats. Thus, the type of starch mixed into the diet may have important metabolic consequences in normal and diabetic rats