Effect of Fractions of Fish Meal and Hepatic Lipid Deposition in Estrogenized Chicks

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted for the purpose of determining the effect of feeding isoenergetic diets with and without fish meal or its fractions on hepatic lipid deposition in estrogenized chicks. The chicks were fasted for 48 hr before being fed the experimental diets and were injected with estradiol three times during the experiment. After 4 days, hepatic lipid content was determined. In the first experiment, the quantity of hepatic lipid deposited per unit of liver and per 100 g body weight was significantly less for chicks fed 10% fish meal and an ethanol extract of fish meal equivalent to 10% than for chicks fed an unsupplemented corn-soy diet. In a second experiment a significant reduction in hepatic lipids deposited per 100 g body weight was observed with 10% fish meal but only a numerical reduction with ethanol extracts of fish meal equivalent to 10 or 20% and the ash of ethanol extract equivalent to 20%. In a third experiment a highly significant reduction in hepatic lipid deposition was observed in birds refed a diet containing fish meal, alfalfa, and torula yeast but feeding this before the starvation-refeeding period did not affect liver lipids. These results show that fish meal contains hepatic lipid lowering activity in refed estrogenized chicks and suggest that the activity may be extracted with ethanol.