S. P. Ahuja

Renal and Biochemical Changes Produced in Broilers by High-Protein, High-Calcium, Urea-Containing, and Vitamin-A-Deficient Diets

Three hundred 18-day-old male chicks (Arbor Acre) were divided into five groups of 60 each and given high-protein (42.28%), high-calcium (3.37%), urea-containing (5%), vitamin-A-deficient, or control diets to study the effect of nutritional imbalances on the development of nephritis and related biochemical changes over 15 weeks. The first four diets increased the levels of glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, glutamate pyruvate transaminase, uric acid, and nonprotein nitrogen in serum. Blood urea was increased by only the urea diet. Hypoglycemia and a decrease in hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase were also observed in chicks fed the first four diets. The vitamin-A-deficient diet resulted in a depletion of vitamin A in the liver and kidneys. These changes were directly correlated with the prolonged feeding of experimental diets and also with the severity of nephritis and degenerative changes in various organs. It was concluded that increasing the intake of nitrogen or calcium in order to increase production may in fact have the opposite effect, leading to degenerative changes in various tissues and to nephritis.

Clinicopathological, Hematological, and Biochemical Studies in Some Outbreaks of Nephritis in Poultry

Hematological, biochemical, histoenzymological, and histopathological changes in serum and tissues were studied in chickens during outbreaks of nephritis. Hematological studies revealed normocytic-normochromic anemia characterized by increased total erythrocyte counts, hemoglobin, packed cell volume, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Albumin-to-globulin ratio and sodium levels in serum, glucose in blood, and alkaline phosphatase and glucose-6-phosphatase in liver and kidneys were decreased. Glutamate pyruvate transaminase, uric acid, non-protein-nitrogen, and potassium levels in serum were increased. No significant change in the calcium, phosphorus, and total protein levels in serum was observed. These changes were directly related to the severity of the nephritis.