UREA DEGRADATION IN THE CAMEL

Following a single injection of 14C-urea, the kinetics of urea metabolism have been studied in two female Arabian camels (Camelus dromedarius) fed roughage diets containing 6.1 (diet A), 9.6 (diet B), and 13.6% (diet C) crude protein. In general, plasma urea concentration, urea pool size, urea entry rate and urinary urea excretion rate increased as the dietary nitrogen intake increased. The mean extents of urea degradation were approximately 86, 74 and 47% for diets A, B, and C, respectively, as calculated from the ratio of urea degradation rate to urea entry rate, or from the fraction of 14C-urea recovered in the urine. The following parameters were linearly related: urea entry rate and urea pool size, urea pool size and plasma urea concentration, percentage urea degraded and urea entry rate, and percentage urea degraded and crude protein intake.