Effect of the addition of glycosaminoglycans on bone and cartilaginous development of broiler chickens

Abstract

Locomotion issues in broiler production may decrease performance (carcass yield and traits) and lead to high financial losses. This study evaluates the addition of glucosaminoglycans in broiler diets to minimize the lack of proper bone development and joint weakening. The experiment was conducted using 2,160 broilers randomly distributed in a factorial pattern (3 × 3) using 3 levels of glucosamine sulfate (0, 0.12, and 0.24%) and 3 levels of chondroitin sulfate addition (0, 0.08, and 0.16%). Eight repetitions were used for each treatment, distributed in 72 pens with 30 broilers each. There was a quadratic effect on feed conversion for broilers from 1 to 42 d old (P = 0.0123) for the addition of chondroitin, and better feed conversion was obtained by adding 0.08% of chondroitin. The relative tibia weight, the width of the proximal epiphysis and diaphysis presented a linear increased effect in broilers at 42 d old. An interaction was found between the amount of chondroitin × glucosamine and the number of chondrocytes in the proximal cartilage of the tibia (P = 0.0072). There was a quadratic effect of glucosamine levels (P = 0.0107) in the birds that had received the 0.16% addition of chondroitin, and the presence of 0.18% glucosamine increased the number chondrocytes in the cartilage of broilers. These results provide the first evidence that broilers may benefit from increased dietary chondroitin sulfate. These results indicate that the addition of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfates in broiler feed rations might alleviate leg conditions and decrease financial losses in the broiler industry.

Performance, nutrient digestibility, and intestinal histomorphometry of broilers fed diet supplemented with chondroitin and glucosamine sulfates

“…Polysulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAG), chondroitin, and glucosamine have been studied as nutraceuticals in the prevention and/or treatment of pathologies of bone and joint structures in broilers (Sgavioli et al, 2017;Santos et al, 2018;Santos et al, 2019). Chondroitin sulfate is composed of hexosamine D-galactosamine and D-glucuronic acid.…”

Comprehensive transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis of the effect of feed restriction on duck sternal development

“…In poultry, keel cartilage has been found to contain a high chondroitin sulfate content. Feeding chondroitin sulfate has been proven to be beneficial to the bone development of poultry ( Nakano et al, 2012 ; Sgavioli et al, 2017 ). CHSY -related genes have been widely studied in bone development.…”

Glycosaminoglycans and vitamin C in ovo feeding affects bone characteristics of chicks

“…Glycosaminoglycans and vitamin C can influence the formation of long bones, as these substances stimulate the synthesis of the proteoglycans and collagen and are capable of increasing the proliferation of the chondrocytes and biosynthesis of the matrix (Clark, 1991;Sgavioli et al, 2017). They are essential in the endochondral ossification process, responsible for the longitudinal growth of long bones, due to epiphyseal disk calcification (Anderson et al, 2005).…”

“…The supplied quantity of chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine sulfate, and vitamin C in micrograms were thus converted according to the dog weight in pounds to the quantity in micrograms of those substances for broiler weight in pounds. Results of studies on broiler nutrition (Ferreira et al, 2015;Sgavioli et al, 2017) were also used to adjust the glucosamine and chondroitin doses in the additive injected.…”