PROJECT REPORT 
COMMITTEE ON FOOD RESEARCH 
QUARTERMASTER FOOD AND CONTAINER INSTITUTE 
FOR THE ARMED FORCES 
CHICAGO ILLINOIS 
RIRNARCR AMD DRVRLOR»MINY BRANCH 
MILITARY PLANNINO DIVISION 
OVPICS OR TR* 
QOARTIRMAfTBR OSNKRAL 
ERATIN6 dNsT*Tl)tittN 
Rutgers University; 
LOCALITY 
New Brunswick,, New Jersey 
•FIVi’sTSr" 
College of Arts & Sciences 
OIF ARTNENT 
Bureau of Biological Research 
OFFICIAL INVESTIGATOR 
James B. Allison 
COLLABORATORS 
John A® Anderson 
NEFORT NO. 
R 
NILE NO. 
N-1116 
CONTRACT" NO. 
W11=009-QM- 7 0?- 94 
76fc Per!66 covering 
1 Nov a 1947 - 1 Janc 1948 
initiation OATe 
1 Julv 1947 
T»UI« I XJ PROGRESS NEFORT L i MAH REPORT [ ] ANNUAL REPORT [ ]tENNINATION REPORT 
The Utilization of Proteins and Amino Acids 
SUMMARY 
Growth Experiments in Dogs 
Six twelve-week old beagle puppies were put on the Rutgers 
protein-free diet to which 25/£ wheat gluten had been addedc These 
puppies came from two litters, four from' one and two from a second 
litterB 
The daily caloric intake per kilogram of body weight over a 
period of seventy days are plotted in Figure 10 The caloric in- 
takes gradually decreased from an initial value of approximately 
225 calories/day/kgo to around 125 calories/day/kgo at the end of 
70 days of vheat gluten feeding0 The dogs grew well during this 
period and appeared to be in good physical condition. A close 
examination of the dogsa however, demonstrated that they were 
soft and fate 
Three of the littermates were removed from the wheat gluten 
diet at the end of 40 days and placed on an equivalent amount of 
defatted whole egg nitrogen (Viobin)0 The caloric intake of the 
dogs fed whole egg protein immediately decreased belcw the intake 
of those on wheat gluten0 The circles in Figure 1 illustrate the 
caloric intakes of these dogs0 
N-1116 #6 
I 
COMD FORM 
5 April 16 
12- I 21 
RESTRICTED CALORIES/DAY/ KG. 
DAYS 
Figure 1* The broken line describes the relationship between 
day/kilogram of body weight and days of feeding the wheat gluten diet 
(25*5) to dogs. The circles represent the decrease in caloric intake 
which occurs when the dogs are transferred from wheat gluten to a 
diet containing an equivalent amount of defatted whole egg nitrogen 
(Viobin). 
N-1116 #8 BODY WEIGHT KG. 
DAYS 
Figure 2# Growth curves for dogs receiving a wheat gluten diet,* Two of the dogs, 
#89 and 9D* were transferred at days from the whea't gluten to a diet containing 
an equivalent amount of defatted whole egg nitrogen# Growth during the feeding of 
whole egg is illustrated by the circles* 
Dog 
inns 
■3 The growth of the dogs receiving wheat gluten is 
illustrated in Figure 2* All dogs received wheat gluten 
for i|0 days at which time dogs 90 and 89 were placed on 
the diet containing an equivalent amount of whole egg 
nitrogen (indicated by circles }* The loss in weight which 
accompanied the transfer to whole egg is illustrated by 
these data*; This loss in weight, however, is not loss 
in nitrogen/ The data in Table I demonstrate that the 
dogs fed whole egg were growing in nitrogenftbetter than 
those fed wheat gluten. 
Table I 
Nitrogen source, nitrogen intake, nitrogen excre- 
ted and nitrogen gained during two weekly periods 
of growth in dogs (see Pig# 1)# * 
_ . Period 1 .j Period 2 
Dog, —■ 1 —i —:—• 
# Nitrogen Nitrogen Nitrogen; Nitrogen' Nitrogen Nitrogen Body 
Source ; Intake .Excreted] Gained j Intake jExcreted! Nitrogen 
1 - • 7 • - : - -d i J * I.Gained 
] gm/week j gm/week gm/week 1 gm/week 
' ] . : - j ' J 
86! wheat gluten 60/9 ‘ 53*7 i 7*2 j 59*7 
37; " ” f hm i 29.0 13.4 ! 44.2 
89! whole egg ; 26/0 ! 11.3 j 14.7 I 33.6 
90j " 15 1 32.;o ’ 10.7 1 21.3 ! 26.2 
—;i—i— _! _ 
! gm/week 
52.9 
40.1 
15.>2 
11*7 
gm/week 
6.8 
il* l 
134 
1U*5 
The data in Table 1 were obtained during two successive 
weekly collection periods, beginning on the forty-third 
day, three days after two of the four dogs had been changed 
to the whole egg diet. The average gain in nitrogen of 
the wheat gluten dogs during those collection periods was 
7*9 grams; The average gain in nitrogen in the dogs 
receiving whole egg over those same periods was 17*2 grams'* 
At the end of this seventy day experiment all of the dogs 
were placed on anpther sample of wheat gluten (Eatdh #2), 
Within seven days all of the dogs had stopped eating, * 
developed "running fits" and were removed from experiment* 
Wheat gluten, batch #2, therefore, contains the toxic 
materials which give rise to so-called "running or barking 
fits". 
niii6 In a second experiment a group of three littermates 
(cross betv/een a beagle and bull terrier) were fed the 
whole egg diet. Two of this same litter and one beagle 
puppy of the same age as the others (12 weeks) were 
placed on the wheat gluten diet, The grams body weight 
gained per gram of nitrogen intake was measured over a 
three week period for each These values (P,E,, ), 
recorded in the third column of Table 2, are essentially 
the same whether the dogs were fed wheat gluten or whole 
egg? 
Table XI 
Nitrogen source and P,E. (grams body weight gain 
per gram of nitrogen intake over a period of 21 
days], the nitrogen intake, nitrogen excreted, 
body nitrogen gained over last two of the three 
weeks of feeding and the body nitrogen gained per 
gram of nitrogen intake. 
Dog 
# 
Nitrogen 
Source 
P. E. 
Nitrogen 
Intake 
. NI . ... 
Nitrogen 
Excrete! 
Body 
!Nitrogen 
j Gained 
ENG 
BNG 
NI 
, 
gm/week 
gm/week 
{gm/week 
91 
wheat gluten 
9.6 
62.3 
51. l 
j 11.7 
o.iB 
93 
M tl 
3*o 
61.3 
47-3 
13*5 
0.22 
94 
It f 1 
8*6 
50.2 
1+3.6 
6.6 
0.15 
95 whole egg 
io;6 
66;9 
31.8 
35.1 
0.52 
96 
” tt 
8*3 
k5;3 
22.1+ 
22.9 ! 
0.50 
97 
1! It 
3.0 
48.1 
L 
25 .'1 
\ 23.0 
o-. 1+8 
The nitrogen intake, nitrogen excreted, and nitrogen gained 
the last two weeks of the experiment are also listed in 
Table 2, These data demonstrate that the body nitrogen 
gained per gram of nitrogen intake is much greater for 
whole egg than for wheat gluten. They emphasize the error 
that may be encountered in using growth curves to evaluate 
proteins in dogs. 
Nl ll 6 
5