Inositol in Chick Nutrition.

Abstract

Eastwood showed inositol to be one of the bios factors required by certain yeasts. Recently Woolley, has demonstrated that the mouse requires inositol for normal growth and the prevention of alopecia. Pavcek and Baum have also found inositol to be effective in preventing lack of growth and “spectacled eye” in rats maintained on certain purified diets. These results together with the isolation of phytic acid from chicken blood by Rapoport suggested that the chick might also require inositol. Growth responses varying from 18 to 52 g in 4 weeks have been obtained upon the addition of inositol to several different simplified chick rations (Table I). It is clear that inositol has a definite growth-promoting action although the response varies with the amount of inositol in the ration and the adequacy of the supplement used to supply unidentified growth factors. Ration 477 is the same as ration 470 described previously with the following additions: 3% of extracted kidney residue, .15% choline, 15 mg of pantothenic acid, 100 mg of nicotinic acid, and 4 mg of pyridoxine per kilo. The thiamine and riboflavin content have been raised to 3 and 4 mg per kilo respectively and additional MnSO4 has been added to raise the level of manganese to approximately 60 p.p.m. Ten percent of blackstrap molasses replaced kidney residue in groups 2 and 3 as a source of the antidermatitis factor previously studied. SLE eluate designates a norite eluate prepared from solubilized liver extract by adsorption at pH 3 and elution with 5% ammonia. These results extend our knowledge of the rôle of inositol in the nutrition of the mouse, rat, and yeast to that of the chick as well.