Effect of heat stress on 2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio)butanoic acid and DL-methionine absorption measured in vitro.

The objective of the present experiments was to determine the biochemical basis for preliminary chick performance data, which indicate an ameliorative effect of 2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio)butanoic acid (HMB) when compared with DL-methionine (DLM) fed during hot conditions. In vitro passage of HMB or DLM across intact segments of small intestine from either control (thermoneutral, TN) or heat-stressed (HS) birds was used as a model for intestinal absorption. For DLM placed in the lumen, appearance in the outside buffer was reduced when using intestine from HS birds compared with tissue from TN birds. In contrast, the appearance of HMB in the outside buffer was greater using HS intestine, resulting in a substrate by environment interaction (P < .01). Slices of everted small intestine from TN and HS birds were used to study epithelial uptake of methyl labeled 14C-DLM by three transport pathways: diffusion, carrier-specific energy- and sodium-independent uptake (ESI), and carrier-specific energy- and sodium-dependent uptake (ESD). Correcting for extracellular volume, total epithelial uptake of 14C-DLM (diffusion plus ESI plus ESD) was reduced by 34% in HS intestine (P < .05). Energy-dependent uptake was observed to decrease by 87% in HS (P < .05). Energy-independent uptake was increased (136%, HS versus TN, P < .05), but not enough to compensate for the decrease in ESD uptake. Intestinal transport systems for glucose and leucine were also observed to change during HS, suggesting a role for cellular transport changes in the performance reduction associated with HS.