Abstract
It is reported that the small amount of gizzerosine stimulates the gastric acid secretion, and supplementation of gizzerosine with vitamin D3 (VD3) causes significant increase of the content of ash and calcium (Ca) in the femur of chicks.
In order to estimate the optimum dietary level of gizzerosine for the maximum ash and Ca contents in the femur of chicks, one-day-old chicks were fed diets supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1, 2 or 4ppm of gizzerosine for 14 days ad libitum in experiment 1. The maximum contents of ash and Ca in the femur of chicks were obtained at 1.0ppm of dietary gizzerosine without decreasing the body weight.
In experiment 2, to certify the interrelationship of gizzerosine and gastric acid secretion, chicks were fed the diet containing 0 or 1 ppm of gizzerosine in combination with 0 or 150 ppm of cimetidine. Cimetidine is a H2-receptor antagonist of histamine and gizzerosine. Cimetidine blocked the stimulation of gastric acid secretion by histamine and by gizzerosine.
When cimetidine was added to the diet with 1ppm of gizzerosine, the effect of gizzerosine on the content of ash and Ca in the femur of chicks was diminished. pH in the gastric content tended to be decreased by gizzerosine and increased by cimetidine.
These results suggested that the acceleration of bone calcification by gizzerosine might be due to the acceleration of gastric acid secretion because this effect was diminished by dietary cimetidine. In order to clarify, furthermore, the mechanism by which dietary gizzerosine influences the calcification of bone, it is necessary to study the extent of Ca solubilization by gizzerosine in the duodenum of chicks.
