Liver Ribonuclease and Deoxyribonuclease Activity of Vitamin B₁₂-Deficient Chicks: Effects of Orotic Acid and Methionine

Abstract

One of the most interesting aspects of the nutritional and metabolic relationship between vitamin B₁₂, orotic acid and methionine observed in chicks¹ concerns the participation of these factors in nucleotide metabolism. In fact, at the level of this metabolism, both orotic acid and methionine have effects quite similar to those of vitamin B₁₂ in chicks deficient of this vitamin: increase of the liver RNA content and of the nucleotide content of the acid-soluble fraction², as well as increase in rate of turnover of these structures³. These results induced us to consider nucleotide metabolism as a common field of action of these three substances and to try to explain the nutritional relationships observed between them.