1. Nitrogen retention was measured in adult rats (250–350 g) subjected to the trauma of hind-leg fracture and given diets with or without arginine plus glycine supplementation. Observations were also recorded on excretion of creatine, creatinine, allantoin, and orotic acid. Liver and skeletal muscle transaminase activities were also determined. 2. When traumatized rats weighing approximately 250 g were given a diet with 200 g casein/ kg, supplemented with 20 g arginine and 10 g glycine/kg (EC diet) or a casein diet made isonitrogenous with the EC diet by addition of aspartic acid (C diet), a 60–70% increase in N retention was observed for the first 5 d post-injury for animals consuming the EC diet. A soyabean (S) diet, isonitrogenous to the diet containing 20% casein, supplemented with arginine and glycine was as effective as the EC diet in promoting significantly better N retention of traumatized rats (350 g) in comparison to rats given the C diet. 3. When the dietary casein content was reduced to 100 g/kg, supplements of 10 g arginine and 5 g glycine or 20 g arginine and 10 g glycine/kg did not improve N retention. It is suggested that both protein quality and protein quantity are important following injury. 4. An increased excretion of creatine was observed in traumatized rats given the high-protein diets supplemented with arginine and glycine. No consistent changes were noted for urine creatinine. 5. Urine allantoin levels remained stable after leg-fracture in rats consuming either the C or EC diets. Differences in the levels of urine orotic acid were found during both the pre- and post-injury periods in rats given the C, EC or S diets. 6. The mechanisms responsible for the improved N retention of traumatized rats consuming the high-protein diets with supplements of arginine and glycine may be related to the role of arginine both as a constituent of muscle tissue and as an intermediate in the urea cycle. 7. In traumatized rats fed the C or EC diets, liver transaminase activity increased whereas the transaminase activity in skeletal muscle decreased. These results support the recent concept that the increased excretion of N following injury arises from diminished reutilization of amino acids by muscle tissue without an acute increase in the rate of muscle catabolism.
Much has been written concerning the high arginine requirement of chicks fed diets based on casein as the source of protein. The peculiar amino acid balance of casein, as suggested by studies from this laboratory (Fisher, Shapiro and Griminger, 1960), may in part explain this phenomenon. We now wish to draw attention to a recently published article on seasonal variations in the arginine content of casein, which might provide another missing link in explaining the high arginine requirement of chicks on casein diets. According to Kiermeier and Kirchmeier (1963) the amino acid content of milk casein changes considerably with the season. The authors found, for example, a large increase in essential amino acids between July and November, and a corresponding decrease in nonessential amino acids. Specifically, the value for arginine ranged from 3.5 to 4.8% of the protein during the year. This could mean a difference in excess of 30%…
Cricket ( Gryllus sigillatus) meal (CM) was fed to Ross 308 broiler chickens ( n = 624 total; 26 birds/pen) at dietary inclusion rates of 0% (non-medicated control; NM), 0% (medicated control; 0.05% virginiamycin, 0.03% monensin; M), 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% CM (non-medicated) for 35 days to determine the impact of this novel feed ingredient on the growth, feed intake, organ indices, and meat quality of these chickens. The final average live weight of broilers fed 5% CM was lower than broilers fed the 10% CM ( P < 0.05) and the 0% NM diets ( P < 0.05). Total weight gain was lowest in chickens fed 5% CM ( P < 0.05) and the % ratio of the weight of the small intestine to body weight of the chickens fed 5% CM was significantly higher on day 20 than that of the other treatments ( P < 0.05). Meat texture and colour were not affected by dietary treatments. Cooking loss in birds fed the 10% CM diet was significantly higher than that of birds fed the 0% NM control. Feeding up to 20% CM did not alter the growth, organ indices, or meat quality of broiler chickens, although further research is required to determine whether including >20% CM in the diet will produce similar results.
SummaryA study with growing chicks and adult roosters indicated that dietary saponin will depress blood plasma cholesterol previously elevated by feeding low protein levels in presence and absence of dietary cholesterol. It is suggested that complexing of saponin with cholesterol secreted in the intestinal lumen makes less cholesterol available for reabsorption from the intestinal tract.
Abstract This study explores the potential of cricket meal and black soldier fly larvae meal (BSFLM) as alternative protein sources in broiler chicken diets. With the use of the substitution method, using diatomaceous earth as an external marker, we investigated the nutrient availability and apparent metabilizeable energy content of oven-dried full-fat cricket meal (OD-CM), freeze-dried full-fat cricket meal (FD-CM), and defatted BSFLM in a feeding trial involving 320 Ross 308 broilers housed in 32 pens (8 replicates / treatment; 8 birds / pen). Feed intake, daily weight gain, and feed conversion ratio were measured between days 15 and 21. Excreta collected on days 19, 20, and 21 were analyzed for nutrient content. Both cricket treatments were high in crude protein. Additionally, FD-CM demonstrated the highest fat content, surpassing OD-CM. OD-CM displayed a significantly higher apparent digestibility coefficient for crude protein compared to BSFLM ( ). FD-CM had the highest apparent digestibility coefficient for gross energy ( ). The nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy of OD-CM and FD-CM were significantly higher than that of BSFLM ( ). Furthermore, OD-CM exhibited a significantly higher available crude protein content compared to BSFLM and FD-CM ( ). This research sheds light on the potential of OD-CM and FD-CM as valuable alternative protein sources for broiler chickens, providing critical insights for the poultry industry’s sustainable future. This research is important as the apparent digestibility coefficients, as well as available nutrients calculated for the three ingredients may be used to accurately formulate poultry diets on an available nutrient basis.
DELAYING sexual maturity in replacement flocks by means of restricted feeding or lighting has long had its advocates. Among the advantages claimed by some, and denied by others, are better body weight when production begins, higher total and more sustained egg production, and larger egg size. (See comments by Platt, 1955; Milby and Sherwood, 1956; Fuller, 1958; Couch, 1959.) It is not the purpose of this paper to debate further the merits or demerits of this management technique; rather it is to suggest that the drug Nicarbazin* may be used to simulate retardation of sexual maturity without restricting feed or light. It has been shown that feeding Nicarbazin at certain levels can temporarily inhibit egg formation in laying birds without depressing body weight or feed intake, and that apparently normal reproductive function is restored shortly after the drug is withdrawn (Sherwood et al., 1956; Baker et al., 1957; Weiss, 1960).
Day-old cockerels were fed a control or a candicidin-containing diet (0.01%) with or without cholesterol in the form of whole egg powder. The birds were maintained for 18-27 months on their respective regimens and plasma cholesterol was measured at different intervals. At 6 and at 18 months cholesterol-fed birds were killed and the coronary arteries and the aorta evaluated histologically for atherosclerosis. The birds on the cholesterol-free diets were killed after 27 months and similarly evaluated. Initially, in the cholesterolfed birds, plasma cholesterol was drastically reduced below that of the controls by candicidin feeding. However, the plasma cholesterol level of the controls then decreased, and the differences in cholesterol concentration between candicidin-fed and control birds became smaller or nonexistent. No differences in plasma cholesterol occurred at any time in the cocks on the cholesterol-free diet. A lower incidence of coronary artery lesions and a lower severity and incidence of aortic atherosclerosis was observed in the candicidin-treated cocks, regardless of the presence or absence of dietary cholesterol.
Previous work from this laboratory had indicated that in vivo, histidine decarboxylase (HDC) activity was stimulated by compound 48/80 in rat leg muscle, and that high dietary calcium had a stimulating effect on gastric HDC activity. In the present investigations the 48/80 effect was also observed in vitro in leg muscle extracts from rats, chicks, and guinea pigs. Compound 48/80 had no effect in vitro on histamine metabolism of gastric tissue homogenates in any of the animal species studied. A dietary effect of high calcium intake was noted in rat gastric tissue but not in rat leg muscle. In vitro addition of 48/80 and/or calcium had no stimulatory effect on bacterial HDC or on muscle carnosinase activity. These findings, in conjunction with a comparison of stomach and leg muscle mast cell populations, confirm an HDC stimulatory role for 48/80 in muscle, in addition to its histamine-releasing function from mast cells.
SummaryThe effects on plasma cholesterol level of 4 fats each supplied at 3 levels in a high and a low protein diet were studied in the cholesterol-fed chicken. On the low protein diet a marked hypercholesterolemia was observed which was not affected by type of fat studied or level of supplementation. On the high protein diet, plasma cholesterol levels were essentially normal regardless of source and level of dietary fat. Since the fats used represented a wide range in the product EFA x TSFA, a lack of relationship between this product and plasma cholesterol level in the growing chicken is indicated.
The roles of histamine and H1 and H2 receptors in shock are uncertain. We have found that treatment of aged rats with compound 48/80 (a mast cell degranulator) produced lethal (LD99) shock which was completely prevented by lodoxamide (LOD), a mast cell degranulation inhibitor. This study evaluated the effect of H1 and H2 receptors and age on mortality of 48/80-induced shock in rats. To assess survival, 65 young male (125 g), 65 mature male (250 g) and 30 aged male (500 g) SD rats were placed in groups and treated intraperitoneally with saline; 48/80; LOD + 48/80; the H1 blocker diphenhydramine (DPH) + 48/80; the H2 blocker cimetidine (CIM) + 48/80; or DPH and CIM + 48/80. Rats were observed for 30 min or until death. All 125 g rats survived. Of the 250 g rats, 50% of 48/80-treated and 100% of CIM + 48/80-treated rats died; all others survived. All 500 g 48/80- and CIM + 48/80-treated rats died; all other 500 g rats survived. For all ages, survival differences between saline-, 48/80-, and CIM + 48/80-treated rats were highly significant (P less than or equal to 0.0001). In addition, both 48/80 and CIM + 48/80 greatly reduced mean survival time in the 250 g and 500 g groups (P less than or equal to 0.0001) compared to all other treatments. Both LOD and DPH were protective against 48/80, and DPH was also protective against CIM + 48/80, for both absolute survival and mean survival time (P less than or equal to 0.0001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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