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1. This study investigated the effects of dietary betaine supplementation on growth performance, meat quality, muscle fatty acid composition and antioxidant ability in slow-growing broiler chickens. 2. In total, 400, one-day-old female Xueshan broiler chicks were randomly divided into five groups with eight replicates of ten chickens each for 102 days. Broilers were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0, 125, 250, 500 or 1,000 mg/kg betaine. 3. Broilers fed betaine had better feed conversion efficiency and weight gain (P

To investigate the effects of dietary betaine supplementation on the growth performance, digestive function, intestinal integrity, immunity, and antioxidant capacity of yellow-feathered broilers, a total of 400 one-day-old female yellow-feathered broilers were randomly allocated into 5 dietary treatments with 8 replicates of 10 chicks each, and fed a basal diet supplemented with 0 (control group), 125, 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg betaine for 74 days, respectively. During the 1–37 days and 1–74 days, betaine linearly increased (p

The effects of dietary palygorskite (Pal) supplementation on growth performance, oxidative status, and intestinal barrier function in ducks were investigated. In total, 720 one-day-old Cherry Valley ducks were categorized into 4 treatments comprising 6 replicates with 30 ducks each. Ducks were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0, 5, 10, or 20 g/kg Pal for 42 days. Twenty-four ducks (1 male/replicate) were slaughtered at 14 and 42 days and samples were collected for analysis. Pal supplementation quadratically increased weight gain and linearly and quadratically increased feed intake (P

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of betaine on growth performance, carcass characteristics, myogenic gene expression, and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) signaling pathway in partridge shank broiler chickens. A total of 192 one-day-old partridge shank broiler chickens were randomly divided into 4 groups with 6 replicates of 8 chickens for a 52-d feeding trial. Broilers were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0 (control), 250 (B250), 500 (B500), or 1,000 (B1000) mg/kg betaine. Compared with the control group, the B500 and B1000 groups had higher (P < 0.05) body weight gain (BWG), and the B500 group had a lower (P < 0.05) feed/gain ratio (F:G) during the whole trial period. Moreover, the B1000 group increased (P < 0.05) the breast muscle yield and decreased (P < 0.05) relative abdominal fat weight. The mRNA expression of myocyte enhancer factor 2B (MEF2B) and mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) and mTOR phosporylation were higher (P < 0.05) in both breast and thigh muscles in the B500 and B1000 groups than those in the control group. The higher (P < 0.05) concentration and mRNA expression of IGF-1 were also observed in breast muscle in the B500 and B1000 groups. Additionally, the B1000 group up-regulated (P < 0.05) the mRNA level of myogenic differentiation factor 1 (MyoD1) in breast muscle and myogenin (MyoG) in thigh muscle. In conclusion, diets supplemented with 500 or 1,000 mg/kg betaine improved the growth performance of partridge shank broiler chickens during the whole trial period, and the B1000 group significantly improved the breast muscle growth. These improvements might result from increased mRNA expression of MyoD1 and MEF2B in breast muscle and MyoG and MEF2B in thigh muscle, and through alterations in IGF-1/mTOR signaling pathway.

To investigate the effect of betaine supplementation on growth performance, muscle protein deposition, muscle nucleic acid and amino acid contents, and muscle proteome of broilers, 160 one-day-old male partridge shank broiler chickens were randomly divided into 2 groups with 8 replicates of 10 broilers each. Broilers were fed a basal diet alone, or a basal diet supplemented with 1000 mg/kg betaine. Compared with the control group, the betaine group significantly increased (p < 0.05) the broilers average daily gain, the levels of serum insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), growth hormone (GH), total protein (TP), the contents of muscle absolute protein deposition, RNA, Ser, Glu, Met, and Phe, and the ratio of RNA/DNA, and decreased (p < 0.05) the feed conversion ratio and serum blood urea nitrogen content. Moreover, proteomic analysis revealed 35 differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) in the betaine group compared with the control group, including 27 upregulated proteins and 8 downregulated proteins (p < 0.05). These DAPs were mainly related to cell differentiation, small molecule metabolic process, and tissue development. In conclusion, diets supplemented with 1000 mg/kg betaine improved growth performance and muscle protein deposition of broilers. Increased serum GH, IGF-1, and TP contents, and alterations in muscle nucleic acids, amino acids, and protein abundance levels were involved in this process.

To investigate the effect of processing techniques on the nutrient digestibility of diets containing whole brewer’s yeast products, i.e., directly dried (BDY); thermal-induced autolyzed (AYC); and fine-ground yeast (GDY) prepared from the same yeast filter mud, 3 diets, each contains one of the 3 products with similar energy and protein concentration, were formulated, respectively. Six growing pigs (bodyweight = 25.1 ± 2.0 kg) fitted with T-cannula at terminal ileum were allotted to a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square with 3 diets and 3 periods. The ileal digesta and feces were collected in each period and the digestibility coefficients were calculated using the concentration of nutrients and marker (Cr2O3) in tested diet, ileal digesta and feces. The results indicated that the processing methods significantly affect the digestion of most of diet nutrients especially in the foregut of pigs. Compared with BDY diet, the digestion of DM, CP, energy, Ca, total non-starch polysaccharides (TNSP), insoluble non-starch polysaccharides (INSP), total and insoluble mannose, insoluble glucose, and total and 12 individual amino acids was significantly increased in GDY diet in the foregut of pigs (P

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of betaine supplementation on growth performance, muscle amino acid contents, meat quality and antioxidant capacity in finishing pigs. A total of 144 crossbred barrows (Duroc×Landrace×Yorkshire) weighing about 69 kg were divided into three groups with six replicates of eight pigs each for a 60-day feeding trial. Pigs were fed a maize-soybean meal basal diet supplemented with 0 (control), 1 or 1.5 g/kg betaine, respectively. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA using SPSS software, and the differences among treatments were examined by Tukey’s test, which were considered to be significant at P < 0.05. The results showed that the feed conversion ratio tended to be improved (P = 0.081) by betaine supplementation. Compared with the control, 1.5 g/kg betaine supplementation significantly increased (P < 0.05) the contents of methionine, glutamate and total non-essential amino acid in thigh muscle, but the amino acid contents in loin muscle were not affected by betaine supplementation. The 24-h and 48-h drip loss of thigh muscle and the content of malondialdehyde in loin muscle were decreased (P < 0.05) by 1 g/kg betaine inclusion, and the 24-h redness values of loin and thigh muscles were increased (P < 0.05) by 1.5 g/kg betaine inclusion. Moreover, both levels of betaine significantly increased (P < 0.05) 24-h pH value and the activity of total superoxide dismutase of loin and thigh muscles. Overall, this study indicated that 1.5 g/kg betaine supplementation could increase the contents of methionine, glutamate and total non-essential amino acid in thigh muscle rather than loin muscle, and betaine supplementation was beneficial to improve meat quality and antioxidant capacity in finishing pigs. 1SEM, total standard error of means (n = 6)

The effects of dietary betaine supplementation on growth performance, carcass characteristics, muscle amino acid contents, meat quality, antioxidant capacity, myogenic gene expression and mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling pathway in Cherry Valley ducks were evaluated. A total of 720 1-day-old Cherry Valley ducks were randomly distributed into four groups with six replicates of 30 birds for a 42-day feeding trial. Ducks were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0 (control), 250, 500 or 1,000 mg/kg betaine, respectively. Growth performance was not affected by betaine. Incremental levels of betaine linearly (p < 0.05) increased the breast muscle yield and linearly (p < 0.05) decreased the subcutaneous fat thickness and the abdominal fat yield. The contents of methionine, serine, glycine, glutamate and total non-essential amino acid in breast muscle were linearly (p < 0.05) increased by betaine supplementation. With increasing betaine levels, the drip loss and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) were linearly (p < 0.05) decreased, and the redness of meat (linear p < 0.05), the activities of catalase (CAT) (linear p < 0.05) and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) (linear p < 0.05, quadratic p < 0.05) were increased. Moreover, the myogenic differentiation factor 1 (MyoD1) mRNA expression and the mTOR mRNA expression and protein phosporylation were linearly (p < 0.05) up-regulated, and the myostatin (MSTN) mRNA expression was linearly (p < 0.05) down-regulated by betaine supplementation. Overall, this study indicated that betaine supplementation did not affect the growth performance of Cherry Valley ducks, but could linearly increase some amino acid contents in breast muscle, especially glycine, and increase muscle antioxidant activity to improve meat quality. Moreover, betaine supplementation could improve the breast muscle yield by increasing MyoD1 mRNA expression, decreasing MSTN mRNA expression and regulating mTOR signalling pathway.

The aim of this study was to investigate changes of stress status in dairy goats induced to subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA). The level of acute phase proteins (APPs) including haptoglobin (HP) and serum amyloid A (SAA) in plasma and their mRNA expression in liver, as well as plasma cortisol and genes expression of key factors controlling cortisol synthesis in adrenal cortex were compared between SARA and control goats. SARA was induced by feeding high concentrate diet (60% concentrate of dry matter) for 3 weeks (SARA, n=6), while control goats (Con, n=6) received a low concentrate diet (40% concentrate of dry matter) during the experimental time. SARA goats showed ruminal pH below 5.8 for more than 3 h per day, which was significantly lower than control goats (pH>6.0). SARA goats demonstrated a significant increase of hepatic HP and SAA mRNA expression (P0.05). These results suggested that SARA goats experienced a certain stress status, exhibiting an increase in HP production and cortisol secretion.

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether carnitine was responsible for the increased energy metabolism observed in Sprague-Dawley rats following inclusion of lamb meat in their diet. This was tested by feeding one of the following three diets: a control diet (control) based on a standard formulation (AIN-93G), a carnitine-supplemented control diet (CD) and a lamb meat diet (LD). All diets were isocaloric (15.46 kJ/g DM) and contained 18.3% protein, 7.1% fat and 58.3% carbohydrate. The carnitine concentrations in the control diet, CD and LD were 29, 984 and 953 mg/kg, respectively. The expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-I(CPT-I)α and CTP-Iβ genes, Na,K-ATPase activities and the contents of fat, ATP and creatine phosphate (Cr.P) in liver and skeletal muscle tissues were measured on Days 7 and 14. Bodyweights, bodyweight gains and oxygen consumption rates (OCR) of rats were also measured. The rats fed the LD had higher OCR, ATP and Cr.P concentrations, expressions of CPT-I gene, Na,K-ATPase activities, and lower fat contents, bodyweights and bodyweight gains (P < 0.05) than did the control-group rats. However, rats fed the CD were not significantly different from those fed the control diet, except for the higher CPT-Iα expression, ATP concentrations and lower fat contents in liver (P < 0.05). We conclude that carnitine intake from lamb was not the main factor accounting for the significant effects of lamb consumption on energy metabolism. However, it is likely that carnitine intake by consumption of lamb meat in the LD partly contributed to lowering fat contents in liver, compared with the CD and the control diet groups.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of a sheep meat-based diet on the thyroid hormone concentrations and energy expenditure of Sprague–Dawley rats. The diets, a sheep meat diet (SMD) or a casein control diet (CD), each based on a standard formulation (AIN-93G), contained 18.3% protein, 7.4% fat and 60.0% carbohydrate, and were isocaloric (15.9kJ/g dry matter). Serum tri-iodothryonine (T3), thyroxine (T4), free tri-iodothyronine (FT3) and free thyroxine (FT4) concentrations, oxygen consumption rate (OCR), bodyweight, bodyweight gain and activities of liver sodium–potassium-adenosinetriphosphatase (Na,K-ATPase) and Ca2+-dependent adenosine triphosphatase (Ca-ATPase) were measured. Compared with the CD, the SMD increased the serum FT3 concentration on Day 7 (P = 0.004) and Day 14 (P < 0.001). Serum albumin concentrations, which may influence the amount of thyroid hormones bound, were significantly lower in the SMD group on Day 7 (P < 0.001) and Day 14 (P = 0.02) than those in the CD group. Both liver Na,K-ATPase and Ca-ATPase activities were significantly higher in rats consuming the SMD on Day 7 (P < 0.001, P = 0.001) and Day 14 (P < 0.001, P < 0.001) respectively. OCRs were significantly higher in rats consuming the SMD on Day 6 (P = 0.023) and Day 13 (P = 0.014). Both bodyweight and bodyweight gains were significantly lower in the SMD group. We concluded that sheep meat consumption decreased the serum albumin concentrations, which increased the serum FT3 concentrations. This lead to FT3 promoting the OCRs and the activities of Na,K-ATPase and Ca-ATPase, resulting in reduced bodyweight and bodyweight gain, presumably through greater energy expenditure. Thus, energy expenditure appears to have been enhanced in rats fed the SMD.