Effect of excess dietary lysine on plasma lipids of the chick.
Feeding diets with 4% L-lysine to the chick produces an elevation of plasma lipids which does not occur when feeding an excess of any other amino acid. Experiments were conducted to determine whether lysine-induced hyperlipidemia is secondary to the antagonistic effect of lysine on arginine or to the anorexia which accompanies lysine feeding, and in addition, whether the lysine-induced hypercholesterolemia is affected by chick age. In all experiments gain and food intake were reduced by feeding chicks 4% lysine. Plasma cholesterol and triglyceride were elevated, but high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, as a percentage of total, was reduced. Addition of dietary arginine up to 4% failed to reverse the depression in performance and elevation of plasma lipids. Pair-feeding the control diet to the amount consumed by lysine-fed chicks did not elevate plasma lipids above control levels. Thus, lysine-induced hyperlipidemia is not mediated by the antagonistic effect of lysine on arginine nor by the effect of lysine on food intake. The high-lysine diet prevented the normal decline in plasma cholesterol expected with advancing age of chicks. Preliminary results suggested that excess lysine stimulated cholesterol biosynthesis.
D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000097:blood*; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008239:Lysine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D013997:Time Factors
D008055:Lipids; D008239:Lysine