Summary
Five ganders were subjected to an experimental fast comparable to that which spontaneously occurs during breeding in domestic geese, and during migration and breeding in various wild birds. Plasma uric acid and urea concentrations, and their excretion as a proportion of total nitrogen excretion, were studied in relation to daily change in body mass per unit body mass, dm/mdt. This variable has previously been found to reflect changes in protein catabolism over the three phases of fast: I, dm/mdt and protein utilization both decrease; II, they are maintained at a low value; and III, they increase. In the fed state, daily total nitrogen excretion was 5 gN·24 h−1; uric acid, ammonia and urea accounted for 51, 15 and 5% respectively. The high remaining proportion of, excreted nitrogen (29%), after subtraction of uric acid-N, ammonia-N and urea-N to total nitrogen, accords with the literature. During fasting, the changes in daily excretion of uric acid, urea, ammonia and total nitrogen followed a pattern essentially similar to that for dm/mdt. Uric acid accounted for a progressively increasing fraction of total nitrogen, up to 76% at the end of phase III, while urea remained at a constant 5%. Plasma concentrations of both uric acid and urea followed similar trends during the fast, in particular both increasing during phase III, i.e. when there was a rise in nitrogen exrection. This suggests they could be used as an index in field investigations, to determine whether birds which naturally fast in connection with specific activities have entered into the situation where proteins are no longer spared.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson GL, Braun EJ (1985) Postrenal modification of urine in birds. Am J Physiol 248 (Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol 17): R93-R98
Bell DJ (1957) Tissue components of the domestic fowl. 2. Blood urea. Biochem J 67:33–36
Bell DJ, McIndoe WM, Gross D (1959) Tissue components of the domestic fowl. 3. The non-protein nitrogen of plasma and erythrocytes. Biochem J 71:355–364
Benedict FG, Lee RC (1937) Lipogenesis in the animal body, with special reference to the physiology of the goose. Carnegie Institute Publ. 489, Washington DC
Buffon GL Leclerc, Count of (1802) L'oie. Oiseaux, Tome VI. In: Histoire naturelle de Buffon. Deterville, Paris, pp 26–67
Cahill GF Jr (1970) Starvation in man. N Engl J Med 282:668–675
Cherel Y, Le Maho Y (1985) Five months of fasting in king penguin chicks: body mass loss and fuel metabolism. Am J Physiol 249 (Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol 18):R387-R392
Cherel Y, Robin JP, Le Maho Y (1987a) Physiology and biochemistry of long-term fasting in birds. Can J Zool (in press)
Cherel Y, Stahl JC, Le Maho Y (1987b) Ecology and physiology of fasting in king penguin chicks. Auk 104:254–262
Clemens ET, Stevens CE, Southworth M (1975) Sites of organic acid production and pattern of digesta movement in the gastrointestinal tract of geese. J Nutr 105:1341–1350
Dantzler WH (1978) Urate excretion in nonmammalian vertebrates. In: Kelley WN, Weiner IM (eds) Handbook of experimental pharmacology uric acid. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, vol 51, pp 185–210
Dewasmes G, Cohen-Adad F, Koubi H, Le Maho Y (1984) Sleep changes in long-term fasting geese in relation to lipid and protein metabolism. Am J Physiol 247 (Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol 16):R663-R671
Fox IH, Halperin ML, Goldstein MB, Marliss EB (1976) Renal excretion of uric acid during prolonged fasting. Metabolism 25:551–559
Fuller R, Coates ME (1983) Influence of the intestinal microflora on nutrition. In: Freeman BM (ed) Physiology and biochemistry of the domestic fowl. Academic Press, London, vol 4, pp 51–61
Goodman MN, Larsen PR, Kaplan MM, Aoki TT, Young VR, Ruderman NB (1980) Starvation in the rat. II. Effect of age and obesity on protein sparing and fuel metabolism. Am J Physiol 239 (Endocrinol Metab 2):E277-E286
Goodman MN, Lowell B, Belur E, Ruderman NB (1984) Sites of protein conservation and loss during starvation: influence of adiposity. Am J Physiol 246 (Endocrinol Metab 9): E383-E390
Groscolas R (1986) Changes in body mass, body temperature and plasma fuel levels during the natural breeding fast in male and female emperor penguinsAptenodytes forsteri. J Comp Physiol B 156:521–527
Hellwald H (1931) Untersuchungen über Triebstärken bei Tieren. Z Psychol 123:94–141
Katunuma N, Matsuda Y, Kuroda Y (1970) Phylogenic aspects of different regulatory mechanism of glutamine metabolism. Adv Enzyme Regul 8:73–81
Ketterson ED, King JR (1977) Metabolic and behavioral responses to fasting in the white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii). Physiol Zool 50:115–129
Kun E, Kearney EB (1974) Ammonia. In: Bergmever HU (ed) Methods of enzymatic analysis. Academic Press, New York, pp 1802–1806
Le Maho (1977) The emperor penguin: a strategy to live and breed in the cold. Am Scientist 65:680–693
Le Maho Y, Vu Van Kha H, Koubi H, Dewasmes G, Girard J, Ferré P, Cagnard M (1981) Body composition, energy expenditure, and plasma metabolites in long-term fasting geese. Am J Physiol 241 (Endocrinol Metab 4):E342-E354
Lemonde A (1959) Urea production in chick liver slices. Can J Biochem Physiol 37:1187–1190
Long S, Skadhauge E (1983) Renal acid excretion in the domestic fowl. J Exp Biol 104:51–58
McNabb FMA, McNabb RA (1975) Proportions of ammonia, urea, urate and total nitrogen in avian urine and quantitative methods for their analysis on a single urine sample. Poultry Sci 54:1498–1505
Milne H (1976) Body weights and carcass composition of the common eider. Wildfowl 27:115–122
Mori JG, George JC (1978) Seasonal changes in serum levels of certain metabolites, uric acid and calcium in the migratory Canada goose (Branta canadensis interior). Comp Biochem Physiol 59B:263–269
Mrosovsky N, Sherry DF (1980) Animal anorexias. Science 207:837–842
Odum EP (1965) Adipose tissue in migratory birds. In: Renold AE, Cahill GF Jr (eds) Handbook of physiology: adipose tissue. American Physiological Society. Washington DC, sect 5, pp 37–43
Okumura JI, Tasaki I (1969) Effect of fasting, refeeding and dietary protein level on uric acid and ammonia content of blood, liver and kidney in chickens. J Nutr 97:316–320
Raveling DG (1979) The annual cycle of body composition of Canada geese with special reference to control of reproduction. Auk 96:234–252
Robin JP, Cherel Y, Groscolas R, Le Maho Y (1983) Metabolic adaptation to long-term fasting in male emperor penguins and in king penguin chicks. Physiologist 26:30A
Skadhauge E (1983) Formation and composition of urine. In: Freeman BM (ed) Physiology and biochemistry of the domestic fowl. Academic Press, London, vol 4, pp 108–135
Sturkie PD (1976) Kidneys, extrarenal salt excretion, and urine. In: Sturkie PD (ed) Avian physiology 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 263–285
Tasaki I, Okumura JI (1964) Effect of protein level of diet on nitrogen excretion in fowls. J Nutr 83:34–38
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Robin, JP., Cherel, Y., Girard, H. et al. Uric acid and urea in relation to protein catabolism in long-term fasting geese. J Comp Physiol B 157, 491–499 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00691834
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00691834