Fatty liver and kidney syndrome

Fatty Liver and Kidney Syndrome in Biotin-Deficient Chicks... 

Cot Death Cot death, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, when an apparently healthy child dies suddenly, and from no apparent cause, has some similarities with the fatty liver and kidney syndrome in birds. It has been suggested that it may result from marginal biotin deficiency, together with a precipitating metabolic stress. 

There is circumstantial evidence to support this suggestion, because the liver content of biotin is lower in infants who have died from cot death than in infants who have died from known causes. By parallel with the fatty liver and kidney syndrome, it has been suggested that a modest metabolic stress, such as a mild fever, causes a higher requirement for gluconeogenesis than can be met, resulting in acute hypoglycemia. There are rapid postmortem changes in... 

Bannister DW (1976a) The biochemistry of fatty liver and kidney syndrome. Biotin-mediated restoration of hepatic gluconeogenesis in vitro and its relationship to pyruvate carboxylase activity. Biochemical Journal 156, 167-73. 

Bannister DW (1976b) Hepatic gluconeogenesis in chicks effect of biotin on gluconeogenesis in biotin-deficiency and fatty liver and kidney syndrome. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology B 53, 575-9. 

Whitehead CC, Bannister DW, Evans A], Siller WG, and Wight PA (1976) Biotin deficiency and fatty liver and kidney syndrome in chicks given purified diets containing different fat and protein levels. British Journal of Nutrition 35,115-25. 

In poultry, biotin deficiency causes reduced growth, dermatitis, leg bone abnormalities, cracked feet, poor feathering, and fatty liver and kidney syndrome (FLKS).This last condition, which mainly affects 2- to 5-week-old chicks, is characterised by a lethargic state with death frequently following within a few hours. On autopsy, the liver and kidneys, which are pale and swollen, contain abnormal depositions of lipid. 

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