COMPARISON OF PLASMA PROTEIN CHANGES IN ANTIOXIDANT DEFICIENCY MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY AND GENETIC MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY IN THE CHICKEN.

Abstract

1. Chickens on an antioxidant and sulfuramino acid deficient diet, develop nutritional myopathy. Plasma protein changes, progressively developing during the course of the disease, are characterized by a significant reduction in the albumin fraction, a significant rise in the B globulin fraction and a significant fall in the A/G ratio. 2. Paralyzed chickens of a genetic dystrophic strain fail to show such changes. The plasma protein profile is comparable to that of healthy chickens on a control diet. 3. Genetic dystrophic chickens on an antioxidant and sulfuramino-acid deficient diet grow poorly, develop the most severe degree of paralysis, and have a shorter survival period. The plasma protein profile is characterized by a significant decrease in total protein concentration, although a rather normal plasma protein electrophoretic pattern is maintained. 4. It is concluded that the metabolic defect in genetic dystrophic chickens is one localized to the muscular system, while that in antioxidant and sulfuramino acid deficiency is a generalized one. 5. The significance of the protein changes is briefly discussed.