Effects of surgical thyroidectomy on the chemical composition of the body and of the plasma of Spotted Munia, Lonchura punctulata

Abstract

The changes in the chemical composition of the body, plasma, and liver of intact and surgically thyroidectomized juvenile Spotted Munia, Lonchura punctulata, were studied from December to May. The body of the thyroidectomized birds had significantly more lipid and significantly less of the dry nonlipid fractions as compared to the intact ones. There was also significantly more glucose, protein, and cholesterol in the plasma and glycogen in the liver of the athyroidic birds. In intact birds during the same period, significant increase in body lipid, plasma protein, and glucose occurred. The level of plasma and liver cholesterol and of hepatic glycogen (glycogen plus glucose) also changed significantly. © 1973.