Abstract
The maintenance energy requirement, the efficiency of dietary energy utilization and the incorporation of 3H-amino acids mixture into the liver, kidney and hind leg skeletal muscle (M. triaps surae) under starvation were examined for two lines of mice selected for high (SH) and low (SL) resistance to starvation. The regressions of changes in body energy per body weight (kg)0.75 on metabolizable energy intake per body weight (kg)0.75 showed that the maintenance energy requirement averaged 162kcal/kg0. 75/day and 166kcal/kg0.75/day for SH and SL lines, respectively. There was no significant line difference between them. SH was more efficient (34.09%) than SL (22.22%) in utilizing metabolizable energy intake to promote an increase in body energy. A significant line by group interaction was detected in the incorporation of 3H-amino acid mixture expressed cpm/mg per protein into the kidney. That is to say, in a normal group, the incorporation of 3H-amino acid mixture was higher in SL than SH, but this phenomena was reversed after 48 hours of starvation. The same trends were also recognized in the liver and hind leg muscle. Thus these results show that selection for high and low resistance to starvation in mice altered the efficiency of energy deposition and the incorporation of 3H-amino acid mixture into tissues during starvation, but did not affect the maintenance energy requirement of SH and SL lines of mice.
