Utilization of δ-aminolevulinic acid for livestock: blood characteristics and immune organ weight in broilers

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) on blood characteristics and immune organ weight in broilers. One-day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments with six replicates of 20 chickens each. Treatments were basal diet supplemented with 0, 5, 10 and 15 mg/kg ALA. The two-phase experimental diets were formulated to meet the NRC requirements for chicks and fed for 5 weeks. Growth performance was not affected by supplementation of ALA during any of the experimental periods. Blood cell counts (WBC, RBC and lymphocyte), serum total protein, albumin, iron concentrations, and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) were also not infl uenced by dietary treatments. Haemoglobin concentration tended to increase with an increased ALA supplementation level (linear effect; P<0.10). Dietary ALA addition did not infl uence liver weight. However, spleen and bursa of fabricius weights were increased with the increased ALA supplementation level (linear effect; P<0.05). The current data indicate that supplementation of ALA in commercial broiler diets could partly improve haemoglobin concentration and immune organ weights, without infl uencing growth performance and other blood characteristics of broilers.

Effects of dietary delta-aminolevulinic acid and vitamin C on growth performance, immune organ weight and ferrum status in broiler chicks

“…However, in the current study, the ALA shown no effects on other blood characteristics (WBC, HCT and albumin) and weight of immune related organs. This is inconsistent with the result of Chen et al (2008b), who reported that the ALA added at least 5 mg kg − 1 increases WBC counts and relative immune organ weights (spleen and bursa of Fabricius) of broiler. The reason for this is not clear, and may be a high standard error associated with treatment with ALA alone.…”

“…Previous studies have shown that supplementation with ALA alone up to 50 mg kg − 1 diet had no effect on the growth performance of weanling pigs (Mateo et al, 2006;Chen et al, 2008a) and broilers (Chen et al, 2008b). Even though this study evaluated the effects of ALA combined with VC supplementation, the results further confirmed that ALA supplementation did not influence the growth performance of broilers.…”

“…It has also been reported that supplementation with exogenous ALA can bypass such feedback regulation, thereby enabling the production of additional heme (Mateo et al, 2006). However, Chen et al (2008b) also previously reported that dietary ALA supplementation (5, 10, and 15 mg kg − 1 ) had a marginal effect on serum Fe status in broilers. The discrepancy between these researches may due to variations in the animals, the ALA dosage, and also the Feresponse criteria.…”

“…Livestock Science 135 (2011 However, the optimal levels of ALA being supplemented in other animals such as poultry are also of interest. The result of a previous study indicated that feeding ALA (5, 10, and 15 mg kg − 1 ) to broilers exerted few effects in broilers (Chen et al, 2008b). In addition, the key role of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) for the absorption and utilization of dietary non-heme Fe is generally accepted (Hallberg et al, 1989;Hartiti et al, 1995).…”

Effects of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid as a Supplement on Animal Performance, Iron Status, and Immune Response in Farm Animals: A Review

“…In this review, we considered indices reflecting different levels of defense mechanisms of the immune system: white blood cell (WBC) count, differential count, and cell-mediated immunity, which involves soluble proteins and bioactive small molecules released by the activated cells, such as cytokines, as well as the membrane-bound receptors and cytoplasmic proteins that bind to molecular patterns expressed on the surfaces of invading pathogens. Hence, the immune response in the evaluated studies was addressed through an estimation of WBC count and lymphocyte count, as well as measurement of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α; insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1; haptoglobin; plasma cortisol [ 8 ]; cluster of differentiation antigen positive cells 2, 4, and 8 (CD2+, CD4+, CD8+, respectively); the ratio of CD4+ to CD8+ cells; B-cells; major histocompatibility complex classes I and II [ 17 ]; rates of phagocytosis in blood mononuclear cells (MNC); mitogen concanavalin A and phytohemagglutinin-induced proliferation of blood MNC [ 16 , 22 ]; levels of cluster of differentiation 3 (CD3) mRNA in the spleen; plasma thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS); plasma ceruloplasmin concentration; expression of interferon-γ; inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS); interleukin (IL)-6 and TNF-like ligand 1A mRNA; levels of IL-2; toll-like receptor 2, 4, and 7 mRNA in the spleen during Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation; ceruloplasmin oxidase [ 16 ]; differential count of WBC [ 13 ]; immunoglobin G (IgG) [ 8 , 14 , 29 ]; and the weight of immune organs, such as spleen, bursa of Fabricius, liver, and the thymus [ 15 , 16 , 31 ]. Readers are encouraged to refer to Supplementary Table S1 for further details.…”