Chapter 19 - Selecting broilers for high or low plasma VLDL concentration: comparison of in vivo lipogenesis between fat and lean lines

Abstract

Fat and lean broiler lines have been created by selecting on high or low plasma very low density lipoprotein concentration.This chapter presents determination of lipogenesis in vivo among the lines measured by the rate of incorporation of 3H or 3H2O into hepatic total lipids. From the seventh generation of the selection program, six male birds per line were transferred at 3 and 6 weeks of age into specially designed metabolic cages and kept in a room close to the laboratory for 5 days before the experiment. Cages and birds were transferred to the laboratory with minimum disturbance 3 hours before they were each injected intravenously with 1 mCi and 1.2 mCi of 3H2O in 1 ml of saline. Blood was drawn from the wing vein 15 minutes after injection and the birds were rapidly killed by injecting a lethal dose of sodium pentobarbitone. The chloroform phase was dried under air and the amount of lipids was determined gravimetrically.