Dietary Nucleotide Supplementation Research Articles

Stress Reduction Potential in Mice Ingesting DNA from Salmon Milt.

The functionality of food-derived nucleotides is revealed when nucleotide components are ingested in emergency situations, such as during stress loading, though it is difficult to elucidate the physiological function of dietary nucleotide supplementation. Using a stress load experimental system utilizing territoriality among male mice, we evaluated whether DNA sodium salt derived from salmon milt (DNA-Na) has stress-relieving effects. It was found that stress was reduced in mice fed a diet containing a 1% concentration of DNA-Na, but this was insignificant for yeast-derived RNA. Next, we attempted to elucidate the anti-stress effects of DNA-Na using another experimental system, in which mice were subjected to chronic crowding stress associated with aging: six mice in a cage were kept until they were 7 months of age, resulting in overcrowding. We compared these older mice with 2-month-old mice that were kept in groups for only one month. The results show that the expression of genes associated with hippocampal inflammation was increased in the older mice, whereas the expression of these genes was suppressed in the DNA-Na-fed group. This suggests that dietary DNA intake may suppress inflammation in the brain caused by stress, which increases with age.

Effect of dietary supplementation of Echinacea and nucleotides on productive performance, intestinal histomorphology and gene expression of broiler chickens

Effect of dietary supplementation of Echinacea and nucleotides on productive performance, intestinal histomorphology and gene expression of broiler chickens

Effects of Dietary Nucleotide Supplementation on Performance, Profitability, and Disease Resistance of Litopenaeus vannamei Cultured in Indonesia under Intensive Outdoor Pond Conditions.

Simple SummaryIn Indonesia, there is an increasing tendency to use vegetable protein sources as a replacement for fish meal in diets for Pacific white shrimp (PWS), Litopenaeus vannamei. This; however, involves a negative impact on shrimp health given the high content of anti-nutritional factors in such protein sources. As dietary nucleotides modulate the immune response, they might be able to counteract this effect by enhancing PWS immunity and improving their performance and resistance to diseases. In this study, we evaluated the effects of nucleotide supplementation in PWS receiving diets in which fish meal had been partially replaced with soybean meal. Our data show that dietary nucleotide supplementation leads to improved growth performance and profitability, as well as to higher resistance to Vibrio harveyi. These positive results indicate that dietary nucleotides could constitute a useful tool in the production of shrimp cultured under intensive open-pond systems.This study evaluated the effects of dietary nucleotide supplementation in Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, cultured in Indonesia. A total of 22,500 shrimp receiving diets in which fish meal (FM) had been partially replaced with vegetable protein sources were classified into five study groups (4500 shrimp/group) and received different diets for 110 days: 10FM (control group; 10% FM), 6FM (6% FM—low FM and no nucleotide supplementation), 10FMN (10% FM; 0.1% nucleotides), 8FMN (8% FM; 0.1% nucleotides) and 6FMN (6% FM; 0.1% nucleotides). Growth performance, body composition, total hemocyte count (THC), lysozyme activity, and hepatopancreas histopathology were assessed. Organoleptic evaluation and profitability assessments were also performed. In addition, shrimp resistance to a Vibrio harveyi challenge was studied in shrimps after having received the diets for 30 days. Results showed that reducing FM had a negative impact on growth performance and hepatopancreas morphology. Adding nucleotides resulted in better performance and profitability, a healthier histomorphological appearance of the hepatopancreas, and significantly higher survival rates upon challenge with V. harveyi, while it did not negatively affect organoleptic parameters. In conclusion, nucleotide supplementation could be useful for optimizing performance, profitability, and disease resistance in shrimp cultured under intensive outdoor pond conditions.

Effects of dietary supplementation of gestating sows with adenosine 5'-monophosphate or adenosine on placental angiogenesis and vitality of their offspring.

Our previous study found that dietary nucleotide supplementation, including adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP), could increase AMP content in sow milk and promote piglet growth, but its effects on placental efficiency and piglet vitality remain unknown. This experiment aimed to investigate the effects of dietary AMP or its metabolite adenosine (ADO) supplementation on sow reproductive performance and placental angiogenesis. A total of 135 sows with a similar farrowing time were blocked by backfat and body weight (BW) at day 65 of gestation and assigned to one of three dietary treatment groups (n = 45 per treatment): basal diet, basal diet supplemented with 0.1% AMP or 0.1% ADO, respectively. Placental analysis and the characteristics of sows and piglets unveiled that compared with control (CON) group, AMP or ADO supplementation could improve sow placental efficiency (P < 0.05) and newborn piglet vitality (P < 0.05), increase piglet birth weight (P < 0.05), and reduce stillbirth rate (P < 0.05). More importantly, AMP or ADO supplementation could increase the contents of AMP, ADO, and their metabolites in placentae (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, AMP or ADO supplementation could also increase placental vascular density (P < 0.05) and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (P < 0.05), as well as promote the migration and tube formation of porcine iliac artery endothelial cells (P < 0.05). Overall, maternal dietary AMP or ADO supplementation could increase their contents in the placenta, thereby improving placental angiogenesis and neonatal piglet vitality.

Nucleotide supplementation in the diet of Sterlet sturgeon (Acipenser ruthenus): Improved zootechnical performance, biochemical indices, and immune responses

Nucleotides (NT) are low-molecular-weight intracellular compounds which play pivotal roles in physiological activities of fish. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of dietary NT supplementation on performance, body composition, serum biochemical properties and innate immune responses of Sterlet sturgeon (Acipenser ruthenus). Five semi purified experimental diets containing graded levels of NT (0.00%, 0.15%, 0.25%, 0.35%, and 0.50%) from Vannagen, a commercial NT product, were fed to triplicate groups of Sterlet sturgeon with an initial average weight of 95.33 ± 1.23 g in a flow-through system for 10 weeks. The fish were fed by hand to apparent satiation six times daily (04.00, 08.00, 12.00, 16.00, 20.00 and 24.00 h). The results corroborated that dietary NT supplementation linearly improved the weight gain ratio (WGR), specific growth rate (SGR), feed efficiency (FE), and protein efficiency ratio (PER) in Sterlet sturgeon after 10-week administration (p < 0.05). A quadratically increasing trend of crude protein and fat content was also observed by dietary inclusion of 0.25% NT with the highest values of 237.90 ± 0.17 and 79.55 ± 2.05 g kg-1 in fish fed with 0.35 NT supplemented diet, respectively (p < 0.05). Nucleotide inclusion produced a significantly linear increase in serum biochemical parameters with the highest level of total protein (34.67 ± 0.80 g L−1), albumin (10.00 ± 0.10 g L−1), and globulin (24.66 ± 0.71 g L−1) in fish fed with 0.50% NT supplemented diet (p < 0.05). Measured stress responses including cortisol and glucose levels were also linearly (p < 0.05) and quadratically (p < 0.05) reduced after feeding with different dietary NT concentrations, respectively. Sterlet sturgeon fed a diet containing 0.35% exogenous NT showed the highest immune responses including lysozyme activity (LA) (40.67 ± 2.60 U mL−1), immunoglobulin M (IgM) (62.00 ± 1.73 mg dL−1), complement component C3 (65.30 ± 4.81 mg dL−1), and complement component C4 (8.73 ± 0.50 mg dL−1), which were significantly higher than those fed the basal diet (p < 0.05). It can be concluded that dietary NT supplementation has positive effects on growth performance, feed utilization, body composition, biochemical parameters and immune responses of Sterlet sturgeon. Based on the whole body crude protein content, serum total cholesterol and triglycerides concentrations, LA as well as complement component C3 and C4, the optimal level of dietary nucleotide supplementation for Sterlet sturgeon was estimated to be in a range of 0.263–0.383% of diet.

Dietary nucleotide supplementation enhances the growth, immune response, and disease resistance of the juvenile giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii

Dietary nucleotide supplementation enhances the growth, immune response, and disease resistance of the juvenile giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii

An Overlooked Prebiotic: Beneficial Effect of Dietary Nucleotide Supplementation on Gut Microbiota and Metabolites in Senescence-Accelerated Mouse Prone-8 Mice.

Nucleotides (NTs) are regulatory factors in many biological processes and play important roles in the growth, development, and metabolism of living organisms. We used senescence-accelerated mouse prone-8 (SAMP8) to investigate the effects of NTs on the gut microbiota and metabolites. And the promoting effect of NTs on the growth of a probiotic (Lactobacillus casei) was explored through in vitro experiments. The results showed that the sequencing depth of 16S rDNA covered all microbial species in the feces of SAMP8. Supplementation with exogenous NTs to the diet enhanced the diversity of the gut microbiota, reduced the abundance of bacteria with negative effects on the body (such as Verrucomicrobia, Ruminococcaceae, Akkermansia and Helicobacter), and increased the abundance of the microbiota, which had beneficial effects on the mice (such as Lactobacillus, Candidatus saccharimonas and Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group). Metabonomic analysis showed that NT deficiency in the diet significantly affected metabolites in the mouse feces. The metabolites in mice supplemented with NTs tended to be normal (SAMR1). The differentially expressed metabolites caused by NT addition are involved in various pathways in the body, including linoleic acid metabolism, vitamin B6 metabolism, and histidine metabolism. Correlation analysis revealed a significant correlation between the gut microbiota and differentially expressed metabolites caused by the addition of NTs. In vitro experiments showed that NTs significantly promoted the growth, secretion of biofilm and extracellular polymeric substance of L. casei. NTs also promoted the ability of the crude extract of L. casei to resist the secretion of Shigella biofilm. Thus, NTs can regulate the abundance of the gut microbiota and alter the metabolic expression of the intestinal microbiome.

Oral administration of nucleotides in calves: Effects on oxidative status, immune response, and intestinal mucosa development

The present work aimed to investigate the effects of nucleotide oral administration on oxidative stress biomarkers, immune responses, gut morphology, serum biochemical parameters, and growth performance in calves from birth to 25 d of life. A total of 40 male Holstein Friesian calves were randomly divided in 2 groups. All the calves were born and reared on the same commercial dairy farm. They were fed the same colostrum, milk replacer, and calf starter. Five grams/head of an additive were orally administered with a syringe directly in the mouth to calves of the nucleotide group (NG). The additive contained 74.12 g/100 g of nucleic acids from hydrolyzed yeast, and 75.38% was free nucleotide sodium salt. The other group represented the negative control (CG). At 25 d of life all of the calves were slaughtered. Calves supplemented with nucleotides had a higher final live weight and improved average daily gain, which was associated with better efficiency of nutrient use. Oral nucleotide administration did not affect IgG absorption efficiency; however, NG calves showed greater duodenum villi length and higher crypt depth compared with CG. Oral nucleotide administration increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase) and the antioxidant capacity [ferric reducing antioxidant power and 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) scavenging activity] both in plasma and in liver. An enhanced ability of cells to counter reactive oxygen species- and reactive nitrogen species-mediated damage was also observed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from NG. The findings highlight the effectiveness of oral nucleotide administration, and potentially dietary supplementation of nucleotides, in boosting oxidative and immune status in newborn calves.

Effect of nucleotides on growth performance, gut health, and some immunological parameters of broiler chicken exposed to high stocking density

The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary nucleotides inclusion rate on growth performance, gut health, and immunity of broiler chickens exposed to high stocking density-induced stress. A total of 315 one-day-old mixed broiler chickens were randomly assigned to a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments with 2 different stocking densities, low stocking density (LSD; 0.073 m2/2.2 kg broiler chicken; 15 broiler chickens/replicate) and high stocking density (HSD; 0.05 m2/2.2 kg broiler chicken; 20 broiler chickens/replicate), and 3 dietary inclusion rates of nucleotides at 0, 0.05, and 0.1%, with 3 cages per treatment. The experiment lasted for 35 days. At the end of the experiment, intestinal histomorphology, digestive enzymes production, immune status, and growth performance of broiler chickens were determined. The results showed that intestinal histomorphological picture, immune indices, and digestive enzymes production were negatively affected (P < 0.05) with HSD, resulting in a decreased (P < 0.001) body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI) (P < 0.001), and an increased (P < 0.001) feed conversion ratio (FCR). While the intestinal and pancreatic enzymes production and intestinal histomorphology, including villus height, mucosal thickness, and goblet cell number increased linearly (P < 0.001) with the increased nucleotides supplementation rate, which resulted in a linear increase in BWG (P < 0.001) and FI (P < 0.001), and a decrease in FCR (P = 0.026). However, the effect was more prominent at LSD than HSD. In addition, immune indices, including antibody against NDV, IL-2 and INF-γ gene expression, and lysozyme production, linearly increased (P < 0.001) with the increase of dietary nucleotides inclusion rate, resulting in partial mitigation of immune compromise in broiler chickens at HSD. We concluded that dietary nucleotide supplementation, particularly at 0.1%, partially attenuated the negative effect of HSD on broiler chicken performance through improving intestinal histomorphology, digestive enzyme production, and immune status.

Effects of dietary nucleotides supplementation on growth, total haemocyte count, lysozyme activity and survival upon challenge with Vibrio harveyi in pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei

The use of soybean meal (SBM) as replacement for fish meal (FM) in diets for Pacific white shrimp (PWS), Litopenaeus vannamei, involves a negative impact on the health of PWS. Dietary nucleotides modulate the immune response; therefore, they might be able to counteract this effect by enhancing PWS immunity. Based on this hypothesis, this study was aimed at evaluating the effects of nucleotide supplementation in PWS receiving diets in which FM had been partially replaced by SBM. A 70-day feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary nucleotides on PWS growth performance, protein levels and retention rate, total hemocyte count (THC) and lysozyme activity. Ten experimental diets were formulated. The control diet included 10% FM and 43% SBM. Another diet was formulated by reducing FM to 5% and by increasing SBM up to 50%. The rest of diets included 0.05 or 0.1% nucleotide supplementation with varying degrees of FM replacement by SBM. A total of 900 PWS post larvae with an average initial body weight of 4.24 ± 0.03 g were randomly assigned to ten study groups, with six replicates per group and 15 PWS per aquaria tank. After the performance trial, disease resistance was evaluated in a 7-day challenge test with Vibrio harveyi at the consistent concentration of 105 CFU mL−1. Nucleotide supplementation led to significantly higher THC and lysozyme activity (P < 0.05) and a significantly increased PWS survival in the V. harveyi challenge test (P < 0.05). No significant differences were found between groups regarding growth parameters or protein analyses (P > 0.05). In conclusion, the present study shows a positive impact of nucleotide supplementation on immune response and disease resistance against V. harveyi. Nucleotides could therefore be used as functional dietary ingredients, especially in PWS which receive diets with FM replacement by plant-protein sources.

Effect of dietary guanidinoacetic acid or nucleotides supplementation on growth performances, carcass traits, meat quality and occurrence of myopathies in broilers

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of diets supplemented with nucleotides and guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) on broiler chickens growth performance, blood metabolites, leukocyte differential count, mitotic activity of satellite cells, carcass yield, meat quality, chemical analysis of breast muscle, incidence of breast myopathies, and skin lesions from 0 to 42d. A total of 600 one-day-old male broiler chickens were randomly distributed among three treatments with eight replicates and 25 broiler chickens per pen. Treatments consisted of a control diet (CD), the CD + one g/kg of nucleotides (fed from 0 to 28 d, afterwards broilers were fed CD) and the CD + 0.6 g/kg of GAA (fed from 0 to 42 d). On 10 d, broiler chickens fed with GAA had an improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P < 0.05), increased BWG (P < 0.05), and plasmatic concentration of creatine kinase (P < 0.05) when compared to broiler chickens fed the CD. On 28 d, breast meat of broiler chickens fed with GAA showed a reduction in fat content, compared to the nucleotides. Broiler chickens fed with GAA had a reduction in dermatosis and incidence of moderate and average scores of wooden breast (WB) scoring, besides the proportions of severe and average scores of white stripping (WS) scoring at 42 d, compared to broiler chickens fed diets supplemented with nucleotides. In conclusion, supplementation of nucleotides increases the incidence of breast myopathies, without affecting other variables and GAA supplementation improves broiler chickens growth performance compared to control group from 0 to 10 d and reduced the severity of myopathies and the occurrence of dermatosis at 42 d.

Dietary exogenous supplementation of nucleotides strengthens the disease resistance, antioxidant capacity and immunity in the gill of on-growing grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) following a challenge with Flavobacterium columnare

Low-molecular-weight nucleotides are very important for fish and terrestrial animals, which have been verified to possess multidirectional biological functions including anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-apoptotic effects. This research was designed to fully explore the possible impacts of dietary exogenous nucleotides supplementation on gill disease resistance, antioxidant capacity, antibacterial activity, inflammatory cytokines and the associated signaling mechanisms in on-growing grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) (200.0 ± 1.0 g). Fish were fed six diets containing graded levels of nucleotides at 0, 200.0, 400.0, 600.0, 800.0 and 1000.0 mg/kg in triplicate for 60 days, followed by a challenge with Flavobacterium columnare for 3 days. Our results showed that compared to 0 mg/kg nucleotides diet group, 600.0 mg/kg nucleotides diet group markedly decreased the gill rot morbidity of fish induced by F. columnare (P < 0.05), and significantly enhanced antioxidant related enzymes activities and corresponding gene expressions partly ascribed to the modulation of Nrf2 signaling (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, 600.0 mg/kg nucleotides diet group dramatically elevated antimicrobial substances (lysozyme and IgM) productions and antimicrobial peptides (such as β-defensin) and Mucin-2 expression levels (P < 0.05) as well as altered the expression profiles of main inflammatory-related genes (such as interleukin-1β and IL-8) partly correlated with the action of NF-κB and TOR signaling (P < 0.05). However, nucleotides diet groups did not alter the expressions of cytokines TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-12p35 and IL-4/13B (P > 0.05). Dietary exogenous nucleotides supplementation has potential benefits in strengthening gill disease resistance, antioxidant capacity and immunity in grass carp, the optimal levels of dietary exogenous nucleotides supplementation are recommended to be 526.4–639.8 mg/kg based on gill health-related indices.

Effects of dietary supplementation of nucleotides from late gestation to lactation on the performance and oxidative stress status of sows and their offspring.

Increased metabolic burdens in breeding sows, which are induced by elevated systemic oxidative stress, could increase the need for nucleotides to repair lymphocyte DNA damage; however, de novo synthesis of nucleotides may be insufficient to cover this increased need. This study investigated the effects of dietary nucleotides on milk composition, oxidative stress status, and the reproductive and lactational performance of sows. Forty multiparous sows were assigned to 2 dietary treatments (Control group, and 1 g/kg Nucleotides group) based on a randomized complete block design using their BW at 85 d of gestation as a block. Sows from 2 groups were fed a restricted diet during gestation and ad libitum during lactation. The experiment lasted from 85 d of gestation to 21 d of lactation. The reproductive performance of sows and the growth performance of suckling piglets were measured. Oxidative stress parameters and milk components were also analysed. Data were analyzed using contrasts in the MIXED procedure of SAS. Sows in the Nucleotides group consumed more feed during the first week (P < 0.01) and from 1 to 21 d (P < 0.05) of lactation than those in Control group. Correspondingly, the litter weight gain of piglets showed a tendency to increase from cross-fostering to 9 d (P = 0.09) and from cross-fostering to 20 d (P = 0.10) in the Nucleotides group relative to the Control group. Additionally, the Nucleotides group was higher (P < 0.01) than the Control group in the concentrations of uridine 5'monophosphate, guanosine 5'monophosphate, inosine 5'monophosphate, adenosine 5'monophosphate and total nucleotides in milk. Furthermore, the Nucleotides group was higher (P < 0.01) than the Control group in the serum levels of total antioxidant capacity (P < 0.01) for sows at 109 d of gestation and glutathione peroxidase for weaning piglets, but lower at the levels of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (P < 0.05) in serum of weaning piglets. This study indicated that maternal dietary nucleotides could promote piglet growth, probably due to the higher lactational feed intake and higher concentration of nucleotides in the milk of sows, and lower oxidative stress for both sows and piglets.

Dietary nucleotide supplementation as an alternative to in-feed antibiotics in weaned piglets

Nucleotides are important to cell growth and division and are crucial to the rapid proliferation of such cells as the intestinal mucosa and immune cells. Accordingly, the nucleotide requirements of animals are high during periods of rapid growth and periods of stress like post-weaning period. Thus, nucleotide supplementation may be a possible alternative to in-feed antibiotics as growth promoter in this phase. The study aimed to evaluate dietary nucleotide supplementation as an alternative to in-feed antibiotics on performance and gut health of weaned piglets. Ninety-six 21-day-old piglets, weighing 7.44 ± 0.65 kg, were allocated into 1 of 3 treatments (8 pens per treatment; 4 pigs per pen) in a 14-day trial. Dietary treatments consisted of control: corn-soybean meal-based diet; nucleotides: control +2 g/kg of a nutritional additive with purified nucleotides; and antibiotic: control +0.8 g/kg of antibiotic growth promoter based on colistin and tylosin. Performance variables and fecal score were not affected (P > 0.05) by supplementing nucleotide or antibiotic. Nucleotides treatment had similar effect to antibiotic and superior to control (P < 0.05) on enhancing duodenum villus height, jejunum crypt depth, and reduction of Paneth cellular area. Duodenum and ileum of animals supplemented with nucleotides or antibiotics had higher (P < 0.05) number of proliferating cells than did those of control animals, whereas the jejunum of animals that received antibiotic diets presented more (P < 0.05) proliferating cells than either the nucleotides or control animals. Jejunum of nucleotide-treated piglets showed a greater number of apoptotic cells than those fed antibiotic or control diets (P < 0.05). Nucleotides and antibiotic treatments decreased the B lymphocyte counts in duodenum and ileum (P < 0.05) but increased in the jejunum (P < 0.05), when compared to the control treatment. Relative abundance of mitogen-activated protein kinases-6, haptoglobin, and tumor necrosis factor-α mRNA was not influenced (P > 0.05) by treatments. In the ileal, antibiotic supplementation reduced total bacteria quantification compared to nucleotide supplementation or the control (P < 0.05), whereas nucleotides supplementation increased enterobacteria proliferation compared to the antibiotic or control diets (P < 0.05). However, nucleotides and antibiotic reduced (P < 0.05) colon total bacteria quantification when compared to control. These results suggest that the nucleotides source used to weaned piglets improved gut health by modulating the local immune response and modulating intestinal mucosa development, and, therefore, nucleotides may be an alternative to antibiotics as growth promoters.

Effect of dietary nucleotide supplementation on broiler intestinal histomorphology

The present experiment was performed to investigate the influence of two different products of nucleotides as a feed additive for broiler chicks in terms of improvement of intestinal histomorphology. A total number of two hundred and seven-one-day-old broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly distributed into three different treatment groups (A, B, and C), of three replicates (23 chicks / replicate). The chicks in control group (A) were fed negative control diet, group B were fed diet containing (Nucleoforce®) (0.025%) while group C were fed diet containing (Immune force®) (0.1%). Results showed that, groups fed diet supplemented with nucleotides had expressed significant increase in length of intestinal villi when compared with the control one, although group B that was fed Nucleoforce® showed highest values among the three different groups. It was concluded that, inclusion of nucleotides (Nucleoforce® and Immune-force®) in broiler diets had a positive role in improvement of intestinal histomorphology.

Effects of dietary nucleotide supplementation on growth performance and physiology of broiler chickens under pre- and post-inflammatory challenge

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary nucleotide supplementation on growth performance, serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and uric acid levels, immune-related organs, and intestinal morphometric parameters of broiler chickens under pre- and post-inflammatory challenge with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Ninety-six seven-day-old male broiler chicks were randomized in a 2×2 factorial design composed of two dietary types (supplemented with 0 and 0.3 g of purified nucleotides/kg of feed) and two inflammatory conditions (with and without LPS administration) [...]

Effect of dietary nucleotide supplementation on broiler performance and economic efficiency

A B S T R A C T A total number of two hundred forty-one-day-old broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly distributed into four different treatment groups (A, B, C and D), of three replicates (20 chicks / replicate). The chicks in control group (A) were fed negative control diet, group B were fed diet containing (Nucleoforce®) (0.025%) in first 10 days of age, group B were fed diet containing (Nucleoforce®) (0.025%) in first 25 days of age. While group D was fed diet containing Nucleoforce® (0.025%) from zero day till slaughtering. This experiment was designed to investigate the effect of nucleotide as an immunostimulant for broiler chicks in terms of chick performance and economic efficiency. Results showed that, groups fed diet supplemented with Nucleoforce recorded improvements in live body weight, body weight gain and relative growth rate with no significant difference in feed intake and feed conversion index than the control group. Economic efficiency showed non-significant difference between control group and other groups but group (D) recorded high value 0.94 more than control group (A) 0.84. It was concluded that, inclusion of nucleotide 0.025% in broiler diets had a positive role in improvement of final body weight, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio and economic efficiency.

Growth performance and intestinal replacement time of 13C in newly weaned piglets supplemented with nucleotides or glutamic acid

Dietary supplementation of nucleotides (NU) and glutamic acid (GA) have been suggested for post-weaned pigs because of their potential role as performance enhancers. During this phase, both additives may become essential for newly weaned piglets acting mainly for energy generation and forming molecular basis that are important for intestinal renewal. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary NU and GA on growth performance and intestinal replacement time of 13C in weaned piglets. In both experiments pigs were assigned to treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, based on two levels of NU (0 and 0.1%) and two levels of GA (0 and 1%). The energy source of the maternal diet was based on corn (rich in 13C) whereas piglets’ post-weaning diets were based on rice (poor in 13C). In the first experiment, 84 piglets were weaned at 21 days of age and growth performance was monitored during three experimental phases (0–15d, 16–27d and 28–35d). In the second experiment, in order to assess the intestinal replacement time of 13C in weaned piglets, the differences between the natural 13C abundance in maternal diet and piglets post-weaning diets were used. At day 0 (weaning), three piglets were slaughtered and used as an initial 13C ratio for duodenum and jejunum. At days 3, 6, 9, 14, 21, 34 and 49, three more piglets by treatment were slaughtered. Exponential regression analysis from each treatment was used to determine the incorporation of 13C in small intestine tissues between supplemented and control groups (without NU and GA) to determine the 13C replacement time. In the first study, dietary NU improved G:F (p < 0.05) from day 28–35, whereas dietary GA improved G:F (p < 0.05) from day 0–15, day 28–35 and for the overall experimental period (day 0–35). In the second study, NU supplementation and the interaction of NU × GA improved the replacement time of 13C in the duodenum mucosa (21.12 ± 2.14 days and 21.85 ± 2.13 days, respectively) compared to control (24.95 days). The use of dietary NU and GA during the post-weaning period improves performance but only NU accelerates the replacement time of 13C on duodenal mucosa during the post-weaning period in pigs.

Dietary nucleotides supplementation affect the physicochemical properties, amino acid and fatty acid constituents, apoptosis and antioxidant mechanisms in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) muscle

A 60 days feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary nucleotides levels on growth performance, proximate composition, physicochemical properties, amino acids constituents, fatty acids composition, apoptosis and antioxidant status related mechanism of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) (initial weight: 200.00 ± 1.00 g). Six graded levels of dietary nucleotides were designed as 0, 200.0, 400.0, 600.0, 800.0 and 1000.0 mg/kg, respectively. The results showed that, compared with control group, dietary nucleotides supplementation increased the growth of grass carp with higher final body weight, percentage weight gain and specific growth rate, decreased moisture but increased protein and lipid in muscle. However, dietary nucleotides had no effect on ash, calcium and phosphorus in fish fillets (P > .05). Dietary nucleotides supplementation increased the content of umami and sweetness-associated amino acids, flavor nucleotide (inosine mono-phosphate), healthcare n-3 PUFAs (EPA and DHA) and the ratio of n-3/n6 in fish muscle. Meanwhile, dietary nucleotides increased water holding capacity, tenderness and pH to enhance flesh quality, which were partly related to inhibited apoptosis with regulation of apoptosis-related gene expression, decreased hydroxyproline with increase of cathepsins activities and decreased lactate in muscle, respectively. In addition, dietary nucleotides enhanced flesh quality of grass carp fillets concerning increasing antioxidant enzymes activities and its gene expression, which were modulated by signaling molecules (TOR and Nrf2) gene and protein expression in grass carp muscle. In summary, dietary nucleotides supplementation increased growth performance, flavor characteristics, healthy fatty acid contents, physicochemical properties (water holding capacity, tenderness and pH), anti-apoptotic ability and antioxidant capacity in fish. This study demonstrated that nucleotides was a promising feed additives to enhance flesh quality in fish.

Effects of dietary yeast nucleotides supplementation on intestinal barrier function, intestinal microbiota, and humoral immunity in specific pathogen-free chickens.

Yeast nucleotides are a fine functional additive in human and animals. The effects of dietary yeast nucleotides supplementation on intestinal development, expression of intestinal barrier-related genes, intestinal microbiota, and infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) antibody titer of specific pathogen-free (SPF) chickens were investigated. A total of 60 1-d-old chickens were divided into 4 groups, each of which included 3 replicates of 5 chickens. Group 1 served as a control that was fed a basal diet. Groups 2 to 4 were fed the basal diet supplemented with 0.1%, 0.3% and 0.5% yeast nucleotides, respectively. All chickens were inoculated intranasally with inactivated IBV vaccine at day 1 and day 10. At day 17, the intestinal development, expression of intestinal barrier-related genes and microbiota were evaluated. There was a significant increased ileal villus height and villus height to crypt depth ratio in group 2 (P < 0.05). Moreover, group 4 exhibited higher expression of zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and Occludin gene in ileum (P < 0.05), whereas groups 2 and 3 exhibited higher expression of Mucin 2 (MUC2) and trefoil factor 2 (TFF2) gene (P < 0.05), group 2 showed lower expression of IFN-α gene (P < 0.05). Dietary yeast nucleotides increased intestinal bacterial diversity (P < 0.05), and the abundance of Lactobacillus (P < 0.05). At day 10, 17, 24, 31, 38, and 45, the serum IBV antibody titers were tested. Group 2 exhibited higher IBV antibody titer at day 17 (P < 0.05), furthermore, groups 2 to 4 reached the effective levels 1 wk earlier than control group. In conclusion, dietary yeast nucleotides supplementation can help birds to mount a faster and stronger antibody response to IBV vaccine. In addition, dietary yeast nucleotides supplementation can also promote the intestinal development and barrier-related genes expression, and diversity and richness of intestinal microbiota.