Effects of Dietary Supplementation of L-Carnitine and Excess Lysine-Methionine on Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics, and Immunity Markers of Broiler Chicken

Abstract

L-carnitine as well as lysine and methionine are amino acids of important nutritional and nutraceutical interest and are used in nutritional strategies as dietary supplements to improve feed quality characteristics in animals and broiler chicken in particular. This study investigated the effect of different levels of L-carnitine and extra levels of lysine-methionine on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and some immune system markers. Two hundred seventy male Ross 308 broilers were a fed control diet (C) and eight different diets supplemented with an excess of amino acids. In the experimental diets, identified as D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7, and D8, extra L-carnitine, lysine, and methionine were added in excess with respect to the American National Research Council (NRC) recommendations: L-carnitine equal to NRC (D1), control diet supplemented with lysine at 30% in excess of NRC, methionine at 30% in excess of NRC, and L-carnitine equal to NRC (D2), control diet supplemented with lysine equal to NRC, methionine equal to NRC, and L-carnitine at 15% in excess of NRC (D3), control diet supplemented control diet supplemented with lysine at 15% in excess of NRC, methionine at 15% in excess of NRC, and L-carnitine at 15% in excess of NRC (D4), control diet supplemented lysine at 30% in excess of NRC, methionine at 30% in excess of NRC, and L-carnitine at 15% in excess of NRC (D5), control diet supplemented with lysine equal to NRC recommendations, methionine equal to NRC recommendations, and L-carnitine at 75% in excess of NRC (D6), control diet supplemented with lysine at 15% in excess of NRC, methionine at 15% in excess of NRC, and L-carnitine at 75% in excess of NRC (D7), and control diet supplemented with lysine at 30% in excess of NRC, methionine at 30% in excess of NRC, and L-carnitine at 75% in excess of NRC (D8). During the starter and growth phases, feed intake was not affected by dietary treatment (p > 0.05). By contrast, body weight and FCR were both affected (p < 0.001) during the starter period. During the finisher phase, feed consumption was affected (p < 0.05) by dietary treatment. Feed intake of broilers fed on C, D3, D6, and D7 were statistically similar (p > 0.05) (1851.90, 1862.00, 1945.10, and 1872.80 g/pen/day, respectively) and were higher (p < 0.05) than 1564.40 g/pen/day (D5). With the exception of drumsticks, neck, back thoracic vertebrae, and proventriculus weights, the economical carcass segments were not affected (p > 0.05) by the dietary supplementation of amino acids. Duodenum and ileum weights and lengths decreased with amino acid supplementation (p < 0.05). IgT and IgG titers against Sheep Red Blood Cells (SRBC) for both primary and secondary responses were not affected by dietary treatments (p > 0.05). Dietary amino acids supplementation did not affect IgM titer after the secondary challenge (p > 0.05) and had a significant effect (p < 0.05) on serum antibody titers in broilers vaccinated against Newcastle disease (NCD) and Gumboro ‘s disease at the 27th and 30th days, respectively.

Nutritional significance of amino acids, vitamins and minerals as nutraceuticals in poultry production and health – a comprehensive review

“…L-carnitine and excess lysine and methionine in the diet did not affect feed intake in starter birds but in finisher birds it did. L-carnitine supplementation had no effect on IgM titer but had an effect on serum antibody titers in broilers vaccinated against Newcastle disease and Gumboro's disease (Ghoreyshi et al 2019).…”

“…Nutraceuticals have been in focus in poultry science quite recently due to the nutritional and healthier properties of feed ingredients and the adverse effects of chemical pharmaceuticals like antibiotic resistance and drug residues (Elnesr et al 2019a(Elnesr et al , 2020. Amino acids (Ghoreyshi et al 2019), minerals (Khatun et al 2019), and vitamins (Ahmad et al 2019) which are common ingredients of poultry ration or a combination of them (Moghaddam & Emadi 2014; Horvath & Babinsky 2018) can be nutraceuticals, especially important in poultry feeding. Generally, poultry receives nutrients through the consumption of natural feedstuffs, but some key essential amino acids (lysine, methionine, threonine and tryptophan), vitamins and minerals are often offered as synthetic supplements (Ravindran 2010).…”

“…Thus, amino acids are beneficial in improving the general physiological status(Bouyeh et al 2016), immunizing against infectious diseases(Faluyi et al 2015), and stabilizing under noninfectious or managemental conditions(Saleh et al 2018) thereby enhancing the production performance of birds(Ghoreyshi et al 2019). Previous studies showed that broilers challenged with any infection had poor performance because of structural and functional changes that occured in the intestinal mucosa during the infection (Su et al 2015;Gottardo et al 2016).…”

Effects of dietary supplementation of natural astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis on antioxidant capacity, lipid metabolism, and accumulation in the egg yolk of laying hens

“…Currently, with the increasing demand for poultry meat and eggs, nutraceuticals are used as dietary supplements to improve feed quality characteristics in poultry. Recently, many studies have reported that dietary supplementation with L-carnitine ( Ghoreyshi et al., 2019a , Ghoreyshi et al., 2019b ; Ghoreyshi et al., 2019a , Ghoreyshi et al., 2019b ), quercetin ( Goliomytis et al., 2014 ), and saponins ( Bera et al., 2019 ) in broiler chickens improves meat quality. In addition, dietary supplementation with spirulina ( Omri et al., 2019a , Omri et al., 2019b , Omri et al., 2019c ), linseeds ( Omri et al., 2019a , Omri et al., 2019b , Omri et al., 2019c ), and fenugreek seeds ( Omri et al., 2019a , Omri et al., 2019b , Omri et al., 2019c ) has successfully improved the egg quality of laying hens.…”

Enrichment of Broiler Chickens’ Meat with Dietary Linseed Oil and Lysine Mixtures: Influence on Nutritional Value, Carcass Characteristics and Oxidative Stress Biomarkers

“…Omega-3 fatty acid rich food has been shown to be correlated with a lower incidence of CVD [ 2 ]. Enrichment of chicken carcasses with omega-3 fatty acids [ 3 ], so-called functional foods, is an important research arena in human and animal nutrition. Advantageously, chicken meat contains high protein and low saturated fat [ 4 ] and this is the reason for its nomination as a good functional food.…”