Effect of furazolidone on glycogen deposition in the left ventricle of turkey hearts [Round heart syndrome]

Graded doses of furazolidone (FZ) were added to feed mixtures fed to turkey poults the first 5 weeks post-hatching to induce experimental cardiomyopathies. Following removal of the drug, the poults were maintained for 7 weeks to evaluate spontaneous recovery. From EKG data, poults were selected for sacrifice at 5 and 12 weeks of age. Myocardial samples from the left ventricular wall were analyzed for glycogen by biochemical assay techniques. Deposition of glycogen increased significantly (p < .05) with increasing doses of FZ. The increased deposition of glycogen in affected birds was highly significant (p < .001) at 5 weeks of age. Affected and unaffected birds did not differ significantly (p ≤ .05) in glycogen concentrations at 12 weeks of age. Thus, FZ affected myocardial glycogen metabolism but the effect was reversed by removal of the drug.