Gizzard ulceration in chicks fed cysteamine alone or in combination with a histamine H2-receptor antagonist

A study was carried out to evaluate the effect of cysteamine-HCl administration on gizzard ulceration and growth performance in broiler chicks. The effectiveness of the histamine H2-receptor antagonist, SKF 93479, in preventing gizzard ulcerations when given in combination with cysteamine-HCl was also examined. In the initial experiment cysteamine-HCl at the level of 2400 mg/kg of the diet caused severe gizzard ulceration and mortality and decreased feed intake and growth in chicks. The effect was not seen when cysteamine-HCl was administered at 600 or 1200 mg/kg of the diet. In Experiment 2 broiler chicks administered cysteamine-HCl at 1800 mg/kg of the diet had an increased incidence of gizzard ulceration and decreased growth performance. The severity of gizzard lesions and the depression of growth performance were not as great as in the group in Experiment 1 which received the 2400 mg/kg level of cysteamine-HCl. Addition of the H2 antagonist SKF 93479 at 54 mg/kg of the diet had no effect on improving gizzard ulcer score or growth performance in chicks which received cysteamine-HCl at the 1800 mg/kg of the diet level. From these data it appears that the administration of ulcerogenic levels of cysteamine-HCl in the chicken may involve a more complex pathogenesis in which factors other than acid hypersecretion are involved.