Investigations on metabolic alterations in laying hens following amino acid administration.

Ketogenic amino acids L-leucine and L-isoleucine were administered in amounts of 100 mg with or without 1.5 g glucose to overnight fasting laying hens. On administering leucine the blood glucose level was observed to be slightly reduced while administration of isolencine increased the blood sugar. On injecting leucine or isoleucine with glucose blood glucose level was found to be appreciably higher as compared to that observed on administering glucose alone. In vivo administration of amino acids caused only a slight increase in plasma alpha-amino nitrogen. The liver glycogen was found to be reduced after the administration of amino acids. these observations indicate that amino acids leucine and isoleucine exercise a definite role on glucose uptake, and its mechanism of utilization in poultry birds is different from mammals.