High beta-hydroxybutyrate concentration in liver and skeletal muscle of newly hatched chicks

Characteristic changes in ketone body concentrations in blood, liver, and skeletal muscle were investigated in detail in newly hatched chicks. The concentration of beta-hydroxybutyrate in the blood was maximal at hatch (0 day), markedly decreased to 3 days, then maintained at low levels, up to 14 days of age. The concentration of acetoacetate in blood, on the other hand, did not change after hatching but remained lower than that of beta-hydroxybutyrate at all ages. In liver and muscles, the concentration of beta-hydroxybutyrate changed in a manner similar to that in the blood. The muscle to blood ratio of the beta-hydroxybutyrate concentration on days -1 and 0 was significantly higher than those at 1 through 14 days post-hatch. These results show that newly hatched chicks have the same high ketone body concentrations in the skeletal muscle, blood and liver. It is, hence, suggested that uptake of beta-hydroxybutyrate by muscles is substantial or that ketogenesis, if any, occurs in muscles immediately before and after hatching of chicks.