Dietary arginine intake alters avian leukocyte population distribution during infectious bronchitis challenge

Abstract

Although dietary arginine is a factor in immune function and disease resistance, the full range of effects has yet to be described. In this study, the effects of dietary arginine on leukocyte population changes were examined in the peripheral blood and the respiratory tract of chickens inoculated with infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) strain M41. At 2 wk of age, female line P2a White Leghorn-type chickens were randomly assigned to one of three diets with different arginine levels: a marginally deficient diet (0.5%), an adequate diet (1.0%), and a diet containing a high level of arginine (3.0%). All birds were inoculated with IBV at 4 wk of age, and then the peripheral blood and the respiratory lavage were collected at 1 and 7 d postinfection (DPI). The growth rate of birds that received 0.5% arginine was significantly lower than that of birds receiving 1.0 or 3.0% arginine, whereas the growth of the latter groups did not differ. The percentage and absolute number of heterophil (H) and the H/lymphocyte (L) ratio in the peripheral blood at 1 DPI significantly increased as dietary arginine increased. In the respiratory lavage at 1 DPI, the percentage of H also increased with dietary arginine increase. At 7 DPI, the percentage of CD8+ cells from birds fed the deficient diet was lower than those from birds fed the adequate diet and the diet containing a high level of arginine, whereas the cell surface density of CD8 antigen did not vary among groups. These results show that dietary arginine influences the character of the chicken cellular response to IBV and the distribution of responding leukocyte subpopulations in a target tissue for the infection.

Dietary L-arginine supplementation reduces abdominal fat content by modulating lipid metabolism in broiler chickens

“…Similarly, Fernandes et al (2009) reported that the average live BW of broiler chickens at 42 days was not affected by L-Arg supplementation. Tan et al (2006) also found that supplementing broiler chicken diets with 1.00% L-Arg did not affect the BW gain, whereas Lee et al (2002) showed that increasing the L-Arg level from 100% to 300% NRC (1994) did not affect the BW gain in White Leghorn chickens. D'Amato and Humphrey (2010) reported that the addition of L-Arg at 2 g/kg did not affect the BW, feed intake or FCR compared with chickens fed a basal diet.…”

The effects of pathogen challenges on the performance of naïve and immune animals: the problem of prediction

“…There are several experiments to contradict this, including those of Bhargava et al (1970a and b), Datta et al (1998) and Lee et al (2002). Some authors propose that pathogen challenges always lead to a release of amino acids from body protein stores such as muscle e.g.…”

“…Lee et al (2002), for example, found that arginine supplementation (a limiting amino acid in birds) improved immune responses in chicks challenged with the infectious bronchitis virus. Low et al (2003) found that mice given a whey protein based diet, which is rich in certain amino acids found in large amounts in immune proteins, had increased antibody responses to several bacterial and viral antigens.…”

Opportunities to improve nutrient efficiency in pigs and poultry through breeding

“…This, however, is contradicted by several experiments both in pigs and poultry (e.g. Bhargava et al, 1970a and1970b;Lee et al, 2002) and other species (e.g. Datta et al, 1998), in which additional intake of nutrients above maintenance lead to both increased immune and performance responses.…”