Glycogen Formation in Rats. IV. Diet Containing 87.5 Per Cent of Total Caloric Value in Maltose.

Fifteen healthy young male rats, varying from 145 to 226 gm. in weight, were given us by Dr. Palmer of the University Farm. They had been on a normal diet, and had not been subjected to experimental procedure. We placed 5 of them on McCollum's Stock Diet I, for controls. The remaining 10 were placed on a diet containing 87.5 gm. of maltose, 14.7 gm. casein (85% casein), and 4 gm. of salt mixture 185. This diet had a caloric value of 3.77 per gm., of which 87.5% was derived from maltose and 12.5% from casein, not considering digestibility. The analysis and caloric value of the stock diet was given in a previous publication. 1 The Maltose diet was supplemented by vitamin feeding daily. 2 The experiment was in progress for 16 days.

Both the control and the experimental rats gained in weight. The former averaged 3.4 gm. per day, the latter 3.2 gm. The average daily intake of food was 14.13 gm. on the stock, and 14.19 gm. on the maltose diet. The daily water intake averaged 20.76 cc. on the stock, and 15.91 cc. on the maltose diet.

The following results were found:

The difference in liver weight is not statistically significant. The liver glycogen formed on the maltose diet is significantly higher than that formed on the stock diet.

If we consider the last 24-hour intake in terms of calories per gram of body weight, we find 0.2785 for the stock, and 0.2854 for the maltose diet. If the liver glycogen, expressed in terms of milligrams per gram of liver, be divided by the caloric intake, the quotient is 175 for the stock and 208 for the maltose rats.