Thyroid metabolism in the recessive sex-linked dwarf female chicken. 4. The influence of exogenous thyroid hormones on amino acid uptake by plasma and tissues.

The influence of exogenous triiodothyronine (T3) or tetraiodothyronine (T4) on the incorporation of 3H-labelled methionine, alanine and lysine into plasma, liver and kidney was studied in 4 wk. old dwarf and non-dwarf female, White Leghorn chickens. The response to exogenous T3 or T4 of the birds was directly dependent on the dwarf status as well as the tissue and/or amino acid studied. In general, there was a decreased amino acid uptake by dwarfs and T3 and/or T4 depressed amino acid uptake in all combinations studied except for the uptake of lysine by the kidney of the dwarf. In that tissue, T4 administration caused a significant increase in lysine incorporation. The results found probably were due to different tissue amino compositions or rates of synthesis of proteins by dwarf birds when compared to normals and a differential sensitivity of dwarf birds to changed T3/T4 ratios.