Nitrogen balance in adult female mink ( Mustela vison ) in response to normal feeding andshort-term fasting

Abstract

Ten adult female mink ( Mustela vison ) were studied in a 7 d balance experiment consisting of a 2 d pre-surgery feeding period, followed by surgery, 1 d of recovery, 4 d of ad libitum feeding, and a 2d fasting period. In this experiment (Expt A) the animals had osmoticpumps implanted for continuous release of radioactively-labelled p –aminohippuric acid ( p –aminobenzoyl-2-[ 3 H]glycine; [ 3 H]PAH; n 10) and 14 C-labelled inulin ([ 14 C]IN; n 5). Repeated 24 h collections of urine, corrected to 100%[ 3 H]PAH or [ 14 C]IN recovery, were used for accurate determination of N balances, 24 h urinary excretion of urea, creatinine, and total N, and calculation of mean 24 h renal clearance rates for endogenous creatinine and inulin. N balances were slightly below zero, but not significantly different between feeding and fasting periods, indicating that correction to 100% [ 3 H]PAH recovery resulted in slight overestimation of thefinal balances. During fasting, withdrawal of the dietary water and protein loads resulted in a dramatic decline in 24 h urinary volume, and urea and creatinine excretion. Large individualvariations in 24h urinary creatinine excretion (with relative variation coefficients up to 30%) confirmed that this is an unreliable index of the completeness of urine collection. In this respect, recovery rates of [ 3 H]PAH proved far more consistent. Renal clearance values obtained in fed mink were in fair agreement with published data from cats, dogs and ferrets ( Mustela putorius furo ). Inulin clearance was about 30% higher than endogenous creatinine clearance, although its decline in response to fasting was not significant. In a separate study (Expt B)another ten female mink were equipped with osmotic pumps containing [ 3 H]PAH for determination of 24 h excretion rates of purine derivatives. During feeding, allantoin accounted for more than 97 % of the excretion of purine derivatives in urine, uric acid making up less than 2·5%, xanthine and hypoxanthine less than 1 %. In fasted animals, urinary excretion of each of these purine derivatives declined to less than 50% of the feeding value. In conclusion, an experimental technique is presented for efficient and accurate measurements of daily urinary excretion of nitrogenous constituents, which allows for correct determination of N balances in adult mink and, presumably, in other mammalian species.