Digestibility, ruminal fermentation, blood metabolites and antioxidant status in ewes supplemented with DL‐methionine or hydroxy‐4 (methylthio) butanoic acid isopropyl ester

Abstract

The effects of supplementing ewe diets with either DL-methionine (DL-Met) or 2-hydroxy-4 (methylthio) butanoic acid isopropyl ester (HMBi) were investigated on ruminal in situ degradability of grain and forage diets, in vivo digestibility, rumen fermentation, blood metabolites and antioxidant status. Six ruminally cannulated ewes were used in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design with 28-day periods. The dietary treatments were as follows: (i) no supplemental Met (control; CON), (ii) DL-Met at 1.2 g/kg DM intake and (iii) HMBi at 1.8 g/kg dry matter (DM) intake. Corn grain, barley grain and alfalfa hay were evaluated for their ruminal degradability by both in situ incubation and effective degradability measurements of DM, neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF). Compared to other treatments, HMBi supplementation increased (p < 0.05) the digestibility of organic matter, crude protein and NDF and also tended (p = 0.08) to increase the digestibility of DM and ADF. Moreover, HMBi supplementation increased (p < 0.01) total VFA concentrations, the molar proportions of valerate and iso-butyrate in the rumen. Compared to the CON treatment, DL-Met and HMBi treatments tended (p = 0.08) to increase the molar proportion of acetate but decreased (p < 0.05) ruminal ammonia-N concentration. Ewes supplemented with HMBi and DL-Met recorded greater (p < 0.05) serum concentrations of glutathione peroxidase, total antioxidant capacity and superoxide dismutase than the CON treatment. Serum concentrations of glucose, total protein, albumin, high-density lipoprotein and very low-density lipoprotein were greater (p < 0.01) and serum urea nitrogen (p < 0.05), malonyl dialdehyde and triglyceride were lower (p < 0.02) in the HMBi and DL-Met animals than in the CON ewes. The results concluded that HMBi is a very effective form of dietary Met supplementation for ewes with a positive effect on digestion, rumen fermentation and serum antioxidant function.

ffects of dietary methionine and lysine supplementation on growth performance, meat composition and rumen fermentation pattern in goats

“…However, the DMI were significantly (P<0.01) affected by treatments, with a significantly greater (P<0.01) DMI in goats supplemented with Lys-HCl than that of goats received Met and Met + Lys-HCl. In ruminants, it was proved that oral supplements of DL-methionine have a positive effect on digestion, rumen fermentation and serum antioxidant function (Baghbanzadeh-Nobari et al 2017), and free methionine could improve the total weight gain of lambs (Imik and Gunlu 2011). In line to methionine, effect of dietary lysine supplementation on body weight gain, feed intake, and feed/gain of duck were observed as dietary lysine increased (Wen et al, 2017), and lysinebiofortified rice contributed to improved growth performance, feed efficiency, and lysine availability in growing rats (Yang et al, 2017).…”

Effect of Methionine Hydroxy Analog on Hu Sheep Digestibility, Rumen Fermentation, and Rumen Microbial Community In Vitro

“…Studies have also shown that rumen-administered MHA significantly increased the ruminal microbial Met concentration [ 34 ]. This result might be explained by the fact that MHA could provide a stable supply of Met for rumen bacteria to synthesize MCP [ 35 ]. Gas production is an important indicator reflecting the degree of rumen fermentation.…”

Nutrient Digestibility, Microbial Fermentation, and Response in Bacterial Composition to Methionine Dipeptide: An In Vitro Study

“…Further analysis found that amino acid mixtures and peptides stimulated microbial growth, and resulted in higher microbial growth than urea [ 20 ]. Several studies focused on evaluating the effects of rumen-protected Met on nutrient digestibility and found NDF digestibility [ 16 ], and DM digestibility [ 44 ] of TMR, and organic matter digestibility of feed ingredients [ 45 ] were enhanced. The Met results are consistent with those of our study.…”

“…Abbasi et al [ 16 ] found that CP digestibility, microbial protein concentration, and NH 3 -N concentration increased with both low and high Met supplementation. However, Baghbanzadeh-Nobari et al [ 45 ] showed that Met supplementation decreased NH 3 -N concentration and increased CP digestibility. These results may due to the different conversion rates of NH 3 -N to microbial protein based on different Met-dose or basic diets.…”