Protein metabolism: 5. Trichostrongylus colubriformis: Changes of host body mass and protein synthesis in guinea pigs with light to heavy infections

Abstract

Guinea pigs with light to heavy infections of Trichostrongylus colubriformis were used to examine the relationships between the fall of food consumption and the changes of body mass and skeletal muscle and liver protein synthesis. The faster loss of body mass and the greater depression of the rate of muscle protein synthesis in relation to falling food consumption and the faster rate of liver protein synthesis in infected than in pair-fed animals indicated that anorexia was not solely responsible for the metabolic changes in intestinal nematode infection. Factors that may exacerbate the effect of anorexia are briefly discussed.