Ornithine Utilization by the Chick

Summary

Assays employing a chemically defined diet were conducted to determine if the young chick could utilize dietary ornithine. A plasma assay and a tracer study clearly demonstrated that the chick can both absorb and metabolize ornithine. Moreover, a significant quantity of ¹⁴C from injected ornithine-U-¹⁴C was recovered in liver protein as proline and glutamic acid. Growth assays demonstrated that orally administered l-ornithine HCl was an effective source of nonspecific amino nitrogen but it was ineffective in eliminating the dietary requirement of the chick for proline.