Urinary Excretion of Purine Derivatives and Its Utilization as an Index of Microbial Protein Synthesis in the Fore-Stomach of the Camel

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Five experiments were carried out on camels to establish a model for estimating the microbial protein outflow from the rumen to the small intestine using the excretion rate of purine derivatives (PD) in urine. In Experiment I, a significant linear regression was established between the level of feed intake and the urinary excretion of total PD. The amount of PD excretion in urine increased by about 11 mmol PD/kg digestible organic matter intake/d with the increasing level of feeding. In Experiment II, endogenous excretion of PD was measured in four camels fasted for 5 continuous d. The endogenous excretion of PD averaged 230 µmol/kgW 0.75/d, which was lower than values obtained in other ruminants. In Experiment III, xanthine oxidase (XO) activity in plasma, liver and intestinal tissues of three camels was measured and detected in liver and intestine, but not in the plasma. For the tissues examined, XO activity in camel was lower than values reported for cattle. In Experiment IV, when purine bases (PB) from RNA yeast were infused at increasing rates into the duodenum of two camels, urinary excretion of PD responded linearly with an average recovery rate of 52%. Nitrogen (N) content of microbes (N) was 8.0 mg/g DM and PB 100.3 µmol/g DM, with a PB/N (mmol/g) ratio of 1.26. In Experiment V, carried out under conditions similar to those in Experiment I, daily creatinine (C) excretion in urine was 0.34 ±0.04 mmol/kgW 0.75/d. PD/C ratios in spot samples of urine, collected several times in a d, were regressed against the measured daily PD excretion. A high correlation (R2=0.86) was obtained indicating that the PD/C ratio in spot samples of urine can be used with confidence to estimate the daily PD excretion in camels.