Carbohydrate absorption by chicks affected with the fatty liver and kidney syndrome

Chicks with fatty liver and kidney syndrome (FLKS) were given oral doses of one of the following test solutions: water, glucose, maltose, starch. Plasma glucose concentration was measured during the four subsequent hours. All FLKS-affected chicks were hypoglycaemic before treatment. Although in some cases plasma glucose concentration increased slightly in the FLSK-chicks given water alone, significantly greater increases were invariably observed following the administration of carbohydrate to sick birds. Results obtained from dietary experiments in which starch was replaced by glucose in a ration causing high mortality from the syndrome revealed no beneficial effect due to the substitution. It was concluded that FLKS does not involve any major impairmant of carbohydrate digestion or absorption.