Influence of Bile Acids on Erosions of the Chick Gizzard Lining.

EXPERIMENTAL results indicating the necessity of an organic dietary factor for the maintenance of a normal gizzard lining in the chick, and the prevention of erosions or lesions of the lining have been given in a number of papers."1 2, 3 4 A series of experiments on the role of the bile acids in this deficiency disease may now be reported. The feeding of whole bile by oral administration or by mixing with diet or as commercial dried bile tablets has been found to prevent the development of the roughened and eroded gizzard lining characteristically found in chicks fed the basal diet without supplement. In other experiments, vacuum concentrated whole beef bile, cholic acid, deoxycholic acid, sodium glycocholate and sodium taurocholate were used as supplements to the basal diet. All these showed a marked protective action against the development of gizzard lesions. In all these experiments vitamin K in the form of an extract of alfalfa was added in a constant amount just sufficient to maintain an approximately normal bloodclotting time. In one case this vitamin K supplement was added at a level about twenty times that required. Typical results may be illustrated by the data given in Table I.