Abstract
Adult rats were fed on a protein free diet for 0, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 30 days. The amounts of ribonucleic acid, deoxyribonucleic acid and nitrogen were determined in skeletal muscle and liver.
During the experimental period, the total amount of deoxyribonucleic acid in muscle remained constant. The amounts of ribonucleic acid and nitrogen in muscle were gradually decreased, and the change in the amount of ribonucleic acid of muscle was followed by the change in the amount of nitrogen. But in liver, the amounts of RNA and nitrogen were markedly decreased in the initial period and then tended to level off.
