Comparison of Copper Deficiency and Lathyrism in Turkey Poults

Abstract

The pathology of copper deficiency and lathyrism was studied in turkey poults. Broad Breasted Bronze turkey poults were fed a series of 4 diets — a practical diet, the practical diet supplemented with 0.1% β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN), a basal milk diet low in copper and the basal milk diet supplemented with 50 ppm copper. Gross pathology was recorded and at the end of 4 weeks aortas were removed from survivors and analyzed chemically and histologically. The BAPN-fed poults developed typical gross symptoms of lathyrism, including leg weakness, subcutaneous hemorrhage and aortic rupture. The histological sections showed fragmentation of elastic lamellae, dissecting aneurysms, and accumulation of non-elastin material between the lamellae. The histopathology of the aortas from the copper-deficient poults was hardly distinguishable from those fed BAPN. Grossly the copper-deficient poults did not exhibit aortic rupture, but there was a high incidence of subcutaneous hemorrhage, perosis and enlarged hocks. Chemically the aortas of both copper-deficient and BAPN-fed poults contained a lower content of elastin than their controls and more nitrogen was extracted by cold molar saline and by hot sodium hydroxide solutions. There was no difference in the concentration of hexosamines extracted by cold molar saline but almost twice as much hydroxyproline was present in this fraction indicating a higher concentration of soluble collagen in both copper deficiency and BAPN toxicity. All attempts to counteract BAPN toxicity by dietary copper failed.