TITLE:
L-Carnitine Contents in the Tissues of Rabbits Fed Urea as an Alternative of Dietary Protein
AUTHORS:
Seizi Sukemori, Satoshi Odo
KEYWORDS:
Rabbit, L-Carnitine, Urea, Replacement of Nitrogen
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Animal Sciences,
Vol.7 No.1,
December
7,
2016
ABSTRACT: The present study was aimed to observe the effects
of urea ingestion, non-protein nitrogen, on the disorder of nitrogen metabolism
with the L-carnitine contents using the blood, kidney, liver, and femoral
muscle as markers. A total of 8 Japanese white rabbits were used in this experiment. They were fed a basal diet
prepared for the control group and the nitrogen volume proportionated to
one-third of CP 14%, was replaced with urea in the feed of the experimental
group for 7 days. On the final day, the
animals were fasted from the previous evening and sacrificed. Blood was collected
into a test tube at the same time of the sacrifice and their heart, kidney,
liver and femoral muscle were collected. The L-carnitine contents in each
sample and the urea in the blood were determined. The results of the growth
test showed that there was no significant difference. Furthermore, there was no
significant difference in the contents of L-carnitine and urea in each sample. It
was concluded that nitrogen replacement of the diet with urea, in the range of
1/3 of dietary protein, had neither effect on the maintenance of body weight
nor nitrogen balance, including the de
novo synthesis of L-carnitine.