[Repercussions of prolonged ingestion of dieldrin on digestibility of nutrients and nitrogen balance in the quail].

The presence of organochlorated pesticides in foods intended for animal and human consumption is on one hand a real fact and on the other hand, it is known that they could alter some enzymes activities and, consequently, modify, at a larger or lesser extent, the metabolic pathways where they are implicated. According to this, it seemed interesting to study the influence of one of such molecules, dieldrin, on nutrients utilization. The work was carried out on adult quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) of both sexes; 20 ppm, were mixed in their diets, during a period of 48 days. Dieldrin does not affect food intake in both sexes, but produces a significant weight decrease in the males. Nutritive utilization of protein, judged by digestibility coefficient and nitrogen balance do not suffered any alterations. Furthermore, dieldrin does not affect carbohydrate utilization (nitrogen free extract) and raw fiber. On the contary, fat digestibility decreased in pesticide treated males and was not altered in females and this effect dependend upon the exposition time to the contaminant.