Effect of dietary arginine to lysine ratios on productive performance, meat quality, plasma and muscle metabolomics profile in fast-growing broiler chickens

Abstract

BackgroundDue to the important functions of arginine in poultry, it should be questioned whether the currently adopted dietary Arg:Lys ratios are sufficient to meet the modern broiler requirement in arginine. The present study aimed, therefore, to evaluate the effects of the dietary supplementation of L-arginine in a commercial broiler diet on productive performance, breast meat quality attributes, incidence and severity of breast muscle myopathies and foot pad dermatitis (FPD), and plasma and muscle metabolomics profile in fast-growing broilers.ResultsA total of 1,170 1-day-old Ross 308 male chicks was divided into two experimental groups of 9 replicates each fed either a commercial basal diet (CON, digestible Arg:Lys ratio of 1.05, 1.05, 1.06 and 1.07 in each feeding phase, respectively) or the same basal diet supplemented on-top with crystalline L-arginine (ARG, digestible Arg:Lys ratio of 1.15, 1.15, 1.16 and 1.17, respectively). Productive parameters were determined at the end of each feeding phase (12, 22, 33, 43 d). At slaughter (43 d), incidence and severity of FPD and breast myopathies were assessed, while plasma and breast muscle samples were collected and analyzed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance-spectroscopy. The dietary supplementation of arginine significantly reduced cumulative feed conversion ratio compared to the control diet at 12 d (1.352 vs. 1.401, P < 0.05), 22 d (1.398 vs. 1.420; P < 0.01) and 33 d (1.494 vs. 1.524; P < 0.05), and also tended to improve it in the overall period of trial (1.646 vs. 1.675; P = 0.09). Body weight was significantly increased in ARG compared to CON group at 33 d (1,884 vs. 1,829 g; P < 0.05). No significant effect was observed on meat quality attributes, breast myopathies and FPD occurrence. ARG birds showed significantly higher plasma concentration of arginine and leucine, and lower of acetoacetate, glutamate, adenosine and proline. Arginine and acetate concentrations were higher, whereas acetone and inosine levels were lower in the breast of ARG birds (P < 0.05).ConclusionsTaken together, these data showed that increased digestible Arg:Lys ratio had positive effects on feed efficiency in broiler chickens probably via modulation of metabolites that play key roles in energy and protein metabolism.

Effect of Nutritional Supplements of Fermented and Unfermented Betel Nutshell Waste in Performance of Broiler Chickens.

“…The average feed conversion of a 4week-old broilers in this study ranged from 1.55 to 1.66. The results of the present study were almost the same as those reported by Zampiga et al (2018), where the average feed conversion of broiler feed conversion was between 1.494 and 1.524 for 33 days.…”

Comparative Evaluation of Growth Performance among Broilers Supplemented with Synthetic Lysine Amino Acid from 0-28 Days

“…According to the findings of Rezaei et al (2004) who stated the national research council (NRC) requirement for lysine is too low for the period of 3 to 6 weeks of age and had absence of significant result on mortality of birds. Similar results were mentioned by Zampiga et al (2018) who showed that there was no significant effect on the mortality percentage of chicks supplemented with dietary arginine to lysine in each feeding phase as well as in the overall period of the trial.…”

The Potential of Guanidino Acetic Acid to Reduce the Occurrence and Severity of Broiler Muscle Myopathies

“…Higher dietary Arg levels (Arg:Lys ratio: + 30% in respect to the current recommendations) may play a role in reducing breast muscle abnormalities in broilers by increasing nitric oxide production, vascularization, and oxygenation and even helping with creatine metabolism (Zampiga et al, 2019). In contrast, Zampiga et al (2018) observed that slight Arg increases were not adequate to mitigate myopathies. However, in practical terms of feed formulation, higher Arg:Lys ratios mean either higher dietary protein content or considerable supplementation of crystalline Arg.…”