The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of diet supplemented with L-arginine (L-Arg)on growth performance, some serum biochemical parameters and duodenal motility of broilers during three time periods: 0 to 10, 11 to 28 and 29 to 42 days old. A total of 500, mixed sex, one-dayold Ross-308 broiler chicks were divided into five groups as follows: Arg deficient group and four experimental groups. Each group was then divided into five subgroups of 20 chicks each. Arg deficient group for all time periods was fed by basal diet which contained 10% less L-Arg than optimum Arg requirement recommended by the breeder. Experimental groups were fed by basal diet supplemented with L-Arg which was progressively 10% increased in groups. The highest body weight gain (BWG) was observed on days 11-28 and 0-42 in experimental group fed by basal diet supplemented with 110% L-Arg, whereas the lowest feed conversion ratio (FCR) was determined on days 29-42 and 0-42 in the same experimental group. Feed intake did not change in all three periods, while serum urea nitrogen level in the experimental group in which diet supplemented with 10% L-Arg, was lower than other groups on day 0-10. On contractility studies, it was observed that L-Arg inhibited the amplitude of contractions in duodenum in a dosedependent manner in vitro. These results suggest that the basal diet formulated with 90-130% Arg is not effective on growth performance of chicks on days 0-10, whereas the diet supplemented with 10% L-Arg more than optimum Arg requirement is adequate during the days 11-28 and 29-42. Moreover, although the L-Arg decreased the duodenal contractility in vitro, it is suggested that the diet supplemented with 10% L-Arg more than optimum Arg requirement may be negatively affected the FCR in broilers. Keywords: Broiler, L-arginine, Growth performance, Duodenal contractility L-Arjininin Broylerlerde Büyüme Performansı, Bazı Biyokimyasal Parametreler ve Duodenal Motilite Üzerine Etkisi ÖzetBu araştırma 0-10., 11-28. ve 29-42. günler arasında broylerlerde L-arjinin (L-Arj)nin rasyonlara katılmasının büyüme performansı, bazı biyokimyasal parametreler ve duodenal motilite üzerine etkisini belirlemek amacıyla yapılmıştır. Araştırmada toplam 500 adet, bir günlük yaşta, karışık cinsiyette Ross 308 broyler civciv: Arj yetersiz grup ve dört deneme grubu olmak üzere beş gruba ayrılmıştır. Her bir grup da 20'şer civcivden oluşan 5 alt gruba ayrılmıştır. Arjinince yetersiz grup tüm deneme boyunca üretici tarafından önerilen optimum Arj gereksiniminin %10'undan düşük L-Arj içeren temel rasyon ile beslenmiştir. Deneme grupları ise, temel rasyona %10 progresif artan düzeylerde L-Arj ilave edilen rasyonlarla beslenmiştir. Araştırma sonunda ihtiyacın %110 düzeyinde Arj bulunan diyetle beslenen grupta 11-28 ve 0-42. (P<0.01) günlerde en yüksek canlı ağırlık artışı (CAA), buna karşın aynı deneme grubunda 29-42. ve 0-42. günlerde en düşük yemden yararlanma oranı (YYO) bulunmuştur. Her üç dönemde YT gruplarda değişmezken serum üre azot düzeyi optimum Arj gereksin...

We investigated the effect of dietary supplementation of sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a nitric oxide (NO) donor, and N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), a NO inhibitor, on neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) expression in and motility of small intestinum in broilers. A total of 560, one-day-old Ross 308 hybrid mixed sex broiler chicks were divided randomly into one control and seven treatment groups for a 42 day feeding trial including starter phase (0-21 days) and grower phase (22-42 days). The control group was fed a basal diet and the experimental groups were the fed basal diet supplemented with 25, 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg SNP and 25, 50 or 100 mg/kg L-NAME. Ten chickens from each group were sacrificed to collect samples on days 21 and 42. The expression patterns of nNOS immunoreactivity in nerve fibers were determined by immunohistochemistry. In the contractility studies, longitudinal isolated strips of duodenum, jejunum and ileum were treated with 10(-5) M L-arginine and 10(-4) M SNP. Immunohistochemistry revealed that nNOS expression was not detectable in the duodenum or ileum of either the control or experimental groups. On the other hand, nNOS immunoreactivity in the jejunum control group showed a strong reaction on day 21, but the reaction was weak on day 42. nNOS expression clearly was suppressed on day 21 by the diet supplemented with L-NAME, while the diet supplemented with SNP stimulated nNOS expression on day 21. Contractility experiments revealed that spontaneous contractility of isolated strips of duodenum, jejunum and ileum showed no significant difference among groups. Spontaneous contractions of all strips were inhibited by L-arginine and SNP in all groups. The percentage inhibition rate of spontaneous contractions of jejunum application on days 21 and 42 after L-arginine decreased in the group supplemented with 100 mg/kg L-NAME. The percentage inhibition rate on day 21 after SNP application decreased in both groups that received 50 and 100 mg/kg L-NAME. We demonstrated the expression pattern of nNOS in nerve fibers in jejunum of broiler chickens. Contractility studies revealed that the NOS-NO pathway may play a role in smooth muscle contraction of small intestine of chickens. Feeding strategies that supplement NO donor and NO inhibitor can be of physiological importance to small intestine motility owing to alteration of nNOS expression in the jejunum.

Acute phase response (APR) is part of the early defense system, which is triggered by different stimuli including, infection, trauma, stres, inflammation and neoplasia. The APR complex is a reaction which induces homeostasis and recovery. In this research, serum amyloid A (SAA), interlaukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and nitric oxide (NO) levels were measured 12 hours following injection. For this purpose, Thirty-two 5 weeks old laying chicken were allocated into four groups and intra-articular injections of Freund's adjuvant were used to induce amylod arthropathy in Groups II, III and IV. Vitamin A in group II, and methylprednisolone in group IV were added to enhance and to reduce the severity of amyloidosis, respectively. At the end of the research, it was observed that TNF-α and NO increased significantly (P<0.05) in vitamin A and methylprednisolone groups whereas SAA decreased significantly (P<0.05) in all groups. It was also observed that IL-6 increased (P<0.05) in vitamin A group and decreased in all other gorups however, IL-1β decreased in vitamin A and methylprednisolone groups, while it was increased in the control group.The results of this study suggest that there is a positive correlation between serum TNF-α levels in acute and chronic phase in chickens with amyloid arthropathy.

The aim of this study was to determine the possible effects of various levels of rosemary and oregano volatile oil mixture dietary supplementation on oxidative status parameters in the blood and various organs of quails. A total of 880 one-day-old Pharaoh quails (Coturnix coturnix Pharaoh) including both males and females, were divided into four groups containing 220 quails and treated as follows: a control group with 0 mg volatile oil (VO)/kg of diet; group I, with 100 mg/kg rosemary VO (RVO) plus 100 mg/kg oregano VO (OVO, 50:50%); group II, 60 mg/kg rosemary VO plus 140 mg/kg oregano VO (30:70%); and group III, 140 mg/kg rosemary VO plus 60 mg/kg oregano VO (70:30%). The diets were prepared fresh for each treatment. The experiment was carried out for 42 days. The quails were euthanized and then serum, erythrocyte, heart, liver and spleen were obtained. Serum malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), antioxidant activity (AOA), glutathione (GSH), vitamin A (VA), vitamin C (VC), erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD), as well as MDA, NO and SOD levels from the heart, liver and spleen were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results of the study show that whereas the lowest serum MDA and serum NO values were observed in group III (p< 0.05), the highest serum MDA and serum NO values were in group I (p<0.05). Moreover, the highest NO and SOD levels in group I were found in the liver and spleen, respectively (p<0.05). In conclusion, supplementation with a rosemary and oregano VO mixture to the diets of quails may alter the antioxidant activity depending on the diets, and the most effective doses of rosemary and oregano VO mixture were 70 and 30%, respectively.

1. This study was conducted to determine the utility of a volatile oil (VO) mixture in quail diets as a natural growth promoter. Different levels of VO mixtures, derived from rosemary and oregano, were added to a basal diet to determine the effects of the mixture on live weight (LW), live weight gain (LWG), feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), carcase yield (CY), lipid oxidation level in thigh meat samples, and blood constituents. 2. A total of 880 one-day-old Pharaoh (Coturnix coturnix Pharaoh) quails, including both males and females, were divided into 4 groups containing 220 quails and treated as follows: (1) a control treatment with 0 mg VO/kg of diet; (2) 100 mg/kg rosemary VO plus 100 mg/kg oregano VO (50:50%); (3) 140 mg/kg oregano VO plus 60 mg/kg rosemary VO (70:30%); and (4) 60 mg/kg oregano VO plus 140 mg/kg rosemary VO (30:70%). The diets were prepared fresh for each treatment. The experiment was carried out for 42 d. 3. The results of the study showed that the highest concentration of rosemary oil (140 mg/kg) caused a significant increase in live weight, live weight gain and carcase yields during the growing and finishing periods. However, feed intake and FCR were not significantly influenced by treatments. 4. The quails fed with rations containing the VO mixture derived from rosemary and oregano had reduced thiobarbituric acid levels (TBA) in raw breast meat samples at different storage times. There is possibly a synergistic effect between oregano and rosemary volatile oils in preventing lipid oxidation in stored meat. 5. In this study, the haemoglobin (PCV) and haematocrit values and the heterophile/lympohocyte (H/L) ratio increased in the blood samples taken from Treatment 2. 6. In conclusion, a volatile oil containing a mixture of rosemary and oregano oils could be a potential natural growth promoter for quails, depending on the plants from which the VOs were extracted, the dosage and the synergetic effects of the mixture.