Abstract
ETHYLENEDIAMINETETRAACETIC acid (EDTA) added to a diet containing isolated soybean protein has improved the growth rate and reduced the incidence of a hock disorder caused by zinc deficiency1 in chickens. Furthermore, the addition of histidine and 8 ml. anti-arthritic agents, including acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), prevented “arthritic-like” leg abnormalities in chickens fed such diets deficient in zinc2,3. Supplementation of the diet with zinc promoted normal growth and feather development, and prevented leg abnormalities, while supplementation with the anti-arthritic agents had little or no effect on the symptoms of zinc deficiency except the leg defect. Amino-acids, particularly histidine, seem to be involved in the passage of zinc from the intestinal lumen to the blood stream4,5. EDTA was found to bind zinc in the intestinal digesta and seemed to remain bound as it passed through the intestinal mucosa and was transported in the blood plasma, confirming previous work5. We have investigated the binding of histidine and aspirin to zinc and their transport from intestinal digesta to the blood stream to find out whether these compounds alleviate the abnormal leg conditions by the same mechanism.
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SUSO, F., EDWARDS, H. Binding of EDTA, Histidine and Acetylsalicylic Acid to Zinc–Protein Complex in Intestinal Content, Intestinal Mucosa and Blood Plasma. Nature 236, 230–232 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1038/236230a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/236230a0
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