Homoarginine influences voluntary feed intake, tissue basic amino acid concentrations and arginase activity in chickens.

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the factors responsible for the adverse effects of guanidinated proteins on feed intake in chickens. In Experiment 1, male broiler chicks were fed one of five purified diets containing casein or guanidinated casein (G-casein) as the sole source of protein (230 g crude protein/kg diet) from d 6 to 13 post-hatching. A casein-based diet containing 17.2 g lysine/kg, served as the control. In the experimental diets, casein was substituted by G-casein and lysine was added at 0, 5.6, 11.4 and 17.0 g/kg diet, respectively. Feed intake and weight gains of chicks fed the G-casein diet without added lysine were markedly depressed (P < 0.05), but this depression was largely overcome by additional lysine. The intake and gains of chicks fed the G-casein diet plus 17.0 g lysine/kg were lower (P < 0.05) than those fed the G-casein diet plus 11.4 g lysine/kg and this was associated with a higher plasma lysine:arginine ratio. Tissue analysis showed that homoarginine is distributed throughout body tissues following absorption. Brain lysine concentrations were lower (P < 0.05) in chicks fed diets containing G-casein without added lysine, but increased (P < 0.05) with supplemental lysine. In Experiment 2, the effect of homoarginine per se on feed intake was investigated in two short-term intake studies using 5-wk-old broiler chickens. Significant (P < 0.05) depressions in feed intake were observed within the first hour after oral administration of 400 mg homoarginine-HCl. The results suggest that both lysine deficiency and homoarginine per se were responsible for the adverse effects of guanidinated proteins on feed intake in chickens.

Secretion of homoarginine into the gut of chickens.

A technique, based on the homoarginine present in guanidinated proteins, has been used to distinguish between endogenous secretions and exogenous dietary amino acids in the ileal digesta of monogastric animals. This technique assumes that the ingested homoarginine is not recycled into the small intestine after absorption, but this assumption is yet to be experimentally validated in chickens. The secretion of homoarginine into the gut of broilers that were intravenously infused with 20 and 40 mmol/L homoarginine solutions was assessed. The plasma concentrations of homoarginine increased with increasing concentrations of homoarginine infused. However, only negligible levels of homoarginine (7.0 to 45.2 micrograms/g dry matter) were found in the digesta. Less than 0.01% of the intravenously infused homoarginine was recovered in the intestinal digesta, indicating that the secretion of homoarginine into the gut of chickens was insignificant.

Evaluation of homoarginine as a marker for the determination of endogenous amino acid concentrations in poultry excreta.

1. Endogenous amino acid losses in ileal digesta and excreta of adults cockerels fed on diets containing guanidinated forms of casein, soyabean meal and cottonseed meal were determined using homoarginine as a marker. 2. The ileal endogenous amino acid losses were markedly higher (P < 0.001) in birds given the cottonseed meal diet compared to those given the other two diets. The ileal endogenous protein was rich in aspartic acid, serine and glutamic acid. 3. Negative values were obtained for endogenous amino acid output in excreta. These aberrant values were caused by high concentrations of homoarginine in the excreta. A subsequent study with broiler chickens showed that the homoarginine in excreta was of urinary origin. 4. These results indicate that the homoarginine technique is not suitable for determining endogenous amino acid losses in excreta, but applicable when determinations are made in the terminal ileum.

Measurement of endogenous amino acid losses in poultry.

1. Ileal endogenous amino acid losses were determined in broiler chickens and in cannulated cross-bred layer strain cockerels using either a nitrogen-free diet, regression analysis or a 48 h fast. 2. Endogenous amino acid flows to the ileum in fasted cockerels were significantly lower than those obtained both by feeding the nitrogen-free diet, and from regression analysis in either broilers or cockerels. Regression analysis gave the highest flows. 3. The apparent digestibility coefficients of amino acids in a diet containing 200 g/kg crude protein were lower in broilers (0.84) than in cockerels (0.88). When corrected, by regression analysis, for the contribution of endogenous amino acids, the true digestibility coefficients became 0.90 and 0.92 respectively.

Interactions between wheat and other dietary cereals with respect to metabolisable energy and digestible amino acids.

Small, varying improvements in apparent ileal amino acid digestibilities were obtained when wheat was combined with certain other cereals in broiler diets. Synergistic interactions, sometimes resulting in large improvements in the apparent metabolisable energy (AME) contents of the diets, were also observed with certain cereal combinations. Combining wheat with maize or oats enhanced the utilisation of dietary energy and amino acids.