The effect of feeding excess arginine on lipogenic gene expression and growth performance in broilers

Abstract

1. Reducing excess fat accretion is important for both human health and animal production. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of arginine (Arg) on the regulation of lipogenic gene expression and on growth performance. 2. One-d-old female broiler chicks (Ross, n = 192) were used in a completely randomised design with 4 dietary treatments in which diets included 100% (CTL), 153% (LArg), 168% (MArg) and 183% (HArg) of the recommended concentration of digestible Arg. 3. Results showed that high concentrations of Arg improved body weight gain, feed efficiency, meat production, fat and crude protein content of breast muscle and plasma thyroid hormones. Conversely, abdominal fat, cholesterol, triglyceride and urea were lower with higher concentrations of Arg. Dietary arginine increased lipogenic gene expression in muscles, while decreasing those in adipose tissue and liver. 4. It was concluded that increasing Arg in the diet reduced abdominal fat content, enhanced intramuscular fat and increased muscle and protein gain. Furthermore, Arg supplementation at the MArg concentration improved growth performance, and at HArg had the greatest effect on fat reduction.

The impact of in ovo injection of l‐arginine on hatchability, immune system and caecum microflora of broiler chickens

“…Tangara et al (2010) reported higher body weight of ducks at 0 and 7 days post-hatch with in ovo injection of 1.2 ml solution of 0.11% arginine. Moreover, feeding high levels of arginine during the rearing period increased daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio (Ebrahimi et al, 2014;Xu et al, 2018). Moreover, feeding high levels of arginine during the rearing period increased daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio (Ebrahimi et al, 2014;Xu et al, 2018).…”

“…Meanwhile, in ovo injection of different ratios of l-arginine to l-lysine improved day-old chicks' weight (Ebrahimi et al, 2018). Moreover, feeding high levels of arginine during the rearing period increased daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio (Ebrahimi et al, 2014;Xu et al, 2018).…”

“…Also, feeding high dietary arginine levels during starter and grower period increased thymus weight, lymphocyte proliferation, the antibody titres to Newcastle disease and serum concentrations of IgM, IgA and IFN-γ (Xu et al, 2018). Furthermore, feeding excess levels of arginine during the growth period enhanced lymphoid organs' weight, skin reaction to phytohemagglutinin P, IFN-α, antibody titres, CD4+ and CD8+ cells, while it reduced ascites prevalence in broiler chickens (Adibmoradi et al, 2015;Ebrahimi et al, 2016Ebrahimi et al, , 2014Munir et al, 2009). The impact of in ovo injection of nutrients other than arginine on the immune system has also been evaluated.…”

“…the incidence of ascites in broilers (Adibmoradi et al, 2015;Ebrahimi, Zare Shahneh, Shivazad, Ansari Pirsaraei, & Ghafari Balesini, 2016;Ebrahimi et al, 2014;Munir et al, 2009;Xu, Guo, Shi, Yan, & Guo, 2018).…”

Role of Amino Acid Arginine for Broiler Production: A Review

“…Addition of excess L-Arg in diet increased fatty acid synthase mRNA expression in muscle and reduced lipoprotein lipase and Acetyl CoA carboxylase mRNA expression in abdominal fats in pigs [48] (Tan et al, 2011). The inclusion of medium and high level of L-Arg downregulated lipogenic genes (acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase, FAS, and malic enzyme) in liver and adipose tissue of broiler chickens [49]. This implies that down regulation of expression of FAS in hepatic tissue will decrease the accessibility of fatty acids for synthesis of triglycerides and storage in body.…”