Abstract
Twenty-four lambs (Pelibuey x East Friesian), weighing 22.7 ± 3.2 kg, were fed a basal diet of corn silage, oat hay, alfalfa hay, and concentrate (60% forage and 40% concentrate). Treatments consisted of oral doses of rumen-protected methionine (RPM) (0 and 1.5 g/day) and herbal choline (biocholine) (0 and 4 g/day) in a completely random block design with factorial arrangement of treatments, where lambs were blocked by sex. The experiment was conducted for 60 days, and measurements of live weight and dry matter intake were obtained. No effects of the treatments were observed on performance variables (lamb growth, consumption and feed conversion). Non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) were increased by biocholine and unaffected by methionine (Met). Biocholine increased glucose and cholesterol, whereas methionine increased triglycerides, albumin and plasma protein. The dietary supplementation with biocholine and RPM did not improve lambs’ growth; however, biocholine and Met showed a lipotropic effect by mobilizing NEFA and stimulating glucose and cholestrol synthesis. Keywords: feed additives, growing sheep, lipid metabolism
Highlights
Methionine (Met) has been recognized as one of the limiting amino acids for growth and milk production in goats and sheep (NRC, 2007)
Another study showed that the combination of rumen-protected methionine (RPM) and rumen-protected choline (RPC) did not improve milk production, but it did result in a moderate interaction in the energy balance, reducing the megacalories (Mcal) lost per day (Zhou et al, 2016)
Twenty-four lambs (Pelibuey x East Friesian: 22.7 ± 3.2 kg LW; 12 males and 12 females) were assigned to four treatments, which consisted of two oral doses of RPM (Mepron, Evonik Industries México Co) at 0 and 1.5 g/day and biocholine (Indian Herbs and Technofeed México) at 0 and 4 g/day in a completely random block design with factorial arrangement (2 x 2) where lambs were blocked by sex
Summary
Methionine (Met) has been recognized as one of the limiting amino acids for growth and milk production in goats and sheep (NRC, 2007). Another study showed that the combination of RPM and RPC did not improve milk production, but it did result in a moderate interaction in the energy balance, reducing the megacalories (Mcal) lost per day (Zhou et al, 2016). The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the dietary supplementation of a combination of RPM and biocholine on lambsgrowth and their blood metabolites as an indicator of lipid metabolism. Both nutrients have liver functions that affect the lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. Met and choline play important roles in methyl group transfer (Niculesco & Zeisel, 2000) and methyl groups are required for carnitine synthesis essential for fatty acid oxidation (Vaz & Wanders, 2002). Choline has increased liver glycogen (Piepenbrink & Overton, 2003) and Met transamination pathways promote the activation of the transcriptional coactivator PGC-1α, which is involved in the control of hepatic gluconeogenesis (Tavares et al, 2016); PGC-1α plays a central role in the regulation of cellular energy metabolism, (Liang & Ward, 2006)
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