Effect Of Dietary Betaine Supplementation Research Articles

Effect of dietary betaine supplementation on growth, carcass and immunity of New Zealand White rabbits under high ambient temperature

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of dietary betaine supplementation on growth performance, carcass characteristics, rectal temperature, respiration rate and immune response of growing rabbits under high ambient temperature. A total of 120 weaned New Zealand White male rabbits, 6 weeks old, were randomly divided into five experimental treatments (24 each). Animals were fed ad libitum the basal diet supplemented with 0 (control), 250, 500, 750 and 1000 mg betaine/kg diet from 6 to 12 weeks of age. Animals were provided with water freely. The average daily temperature and relative humidity inside the rabbitry were 30.3 ± 0.9 °C and 76.2 ± 2.5%, respectively. Under heat stress conditions, diet significantly increased the body weight and hot carcass weight and significantly reduced the feed conversion. Dietary 1000 and 750 mg betaine/kg increased ( P < 0.05) final body weights (2529.1 and 2418.5 g, respectively) compared with the control (2110.3 g). Betaine supplementation ameliorated some of the adverse effects of heat stress on immune responsiveness, rectal temperature and respiration rate. Dietary 250, 500, 750 and 1000 mg betaine/kg led to a decrease in rectal temperature (40.03, 39.85, 39.63 and 39.53 °C, respectively) compared with the control (40.20 °C). The inclusion of 1000 mg betaine/kg in the growing rabbits' diets nearly doubled the humoral and immune responses compared to the controls ( P < 0.05) and significantly reduced rectal temperature and respiration rate. Serum T3, T4, total protein, globulin and total lipids were significantly increased while serum glucose concentration was significantly decreased due to dietary betaine. In conclusion, supplemental dietary betaine enhanced growth performance and humoral and cell-mediated immunity as well as reduced rectal temperature and respiration rate in growing rabbits subjected to heat stress. From an economic point of view, high levels of betaine are not recommended because betaine is reasonably effective at lower, less expensive, doses.

Effect of Betaine on Ileal and Total Tract Digestibilities and Concentrations of Bacterial Metabolites in Piglets

Ratriyanto, A., Eklund, M., Jezierny, D. and Mosenthin, R. 2009. Effect of betaine on ileal and total tract digestibilities and concentrations of bacterial metabolites in piglets. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 185–190. To investigate the effects of dietary betaine supplementation on ileal and total tract nutrient digestibilities and intestinal bacterial fermentation characteristics, 4 barrows (8.6 kg) were fitted with simple T-cannulae at the distal ileum. They were randomly allocated to a basal diet without or with 4.5 g betaine per kg assay diet (Betaine) with 4 repeated measurement periods. The betaine supplementation increased (P<0.05) ileal digestibility of dry matter by 1.2 percentage units and tended to increase ileal crude fiber (P=0.068) and glycine (P=0.057) digestibilities by 7.5 and 3.3 percentage units, respectively. Furthermore, betaine supplementation tended (P=0.117) to increase total tract crude fiber digestibility by 4.7percentage units. Moreover, dietary betaine inclusion increased ileal short-chain fatty acid and fecal diaminopimelic acid concentrations (P<0.05), which indicates intensified intestinal bacterial activity. In conclusion, dietary betaine stimulates bacterial fermentation of fiber in the small and large intestine.

Betaine suppresses carnitine palmitoyltransferase I in skeletal muscle but not in liver of finishing pigs

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary betaine supplementation on the enzyme activity and mRNA abundance for carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I) in liver and skeletal muscle of finishing pigs. Forty-eight crossbred barrows and gilts [Duroc × (Seghers × Seghers)] weighing about 55 kg were divided into two dietary treatments, each with three replicates of eight pigs (four barrows and four gilts) per replicate. Pigs were fed a corn–soybean meal basal diet supplemented with betaine at 0 or 1250 mg/kg feed for 42 days. At trial termination, two pigs (one barrow and one gilt) weighing about 90 kg were selected from each replicate (six pigs per dietary treatment) and slaughtered for analyses. The results showed that intramuscular fat content in the longissimus muscle of pigs fed betaine was 23.6% higher than that of controls ( P < 0.05), whereas hepatic fat content was not affected with dietary betaine treatment. Muscle-type CPT I (M-CPT I) activity, but not liver-type CPT I (L-CPT I) activity was decreased by betaine supplementation. Furthermore, betaine supplementation reduced M-CPT I mRNA abundance by 14.6% ( P < 0.05) but did not affect L-CPT I mRNA abundance. There was a positive correlation between enzyme activity and mRNA abundance for both L-CPT I and M-CPT I ( r = 0.67 and r = 0.72 for L-CPT I and M-CPT I, respectively; P < 0.05). The study suggests that betaine may be involved in fat partitioning in pigs by reducing the activity and mRNA abundance of M-CPT I, with a resultant increase in intramuscular fat content.

The effects of dietary betaine supplementation on fatty liver performance, serum parameters, histological changes, methylation status and the mRNA expression level of Spot14α in Landes goose fatty liver

We evaluated the effects of betaine supplementation on liver weight, liver/body weight, serum parameters and morphological changes. Compared with the control and overfed groups, the geese that were fed the betaine diet showed increased liver weight and decreased abdominal adipose tissue weight compared with the overfeeding groups. Betaine treatment also significantly increased ChE, HDL, LDH and ALT levels ( P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Decreased macrovesicular steatosis and increased microvesicular steatosis were observed in the betaine-treated group, and the lipid was well-distributed in the betaine supplement group. The expression of S14α mRNA in the livers of the betaine-treated geese was higher than that in the control or the overfed geese. We performed sodium bisulfite sequencing of the individual alleles of this region (between + 374 and − 8 base pairs relative to the transcription start site), containing 33 CpG dinucleotides. In the overfed group expressing higher S14α transcripts, the average methylation at the 33 CpGs sites was 87.9%. This contrasted with 69.6% in the control group that showed lower expression of the S14α gene ( P < 0.01). However, no significant change in methylation in the transcription start site was found between the betaine-treated geese (82.6%) and the overfed geese (87.9%). These results indicate that the DNA methylation pattern in the S14α gene transcription start site may not be related to the expression of S14α transcript in response to betaine supplementation.

Effect of Dietary Betaine Supplementation on mRNA Expression and Promoter CpG Methylation of Lipoprotein Lipase Gene in Laying Hens

In laying hens, dietary betaine supplementation is reported to reduce abdominal fat, however, the mechanism of which remains largely unknown. The present study investigated the effect of dietary betaine supplementation on mRNA expression and the promoter CpG dinucleotide methylation profiles of chicken lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene. The experiments were carried out with 120 laying hens which were randomly allocated to four diets supplemented with 0, 0.04, 0.06 and 0.08% betaine. The mRNA levels of LPL gene was investigated by using real-time RT-PCR. The CpG methylation profiles at LPL promoter region were analyzed by using bisulfite sequencing method. The results indicated that betaine supplementation at levels of 0.06 and 0.08% tend to decrease LPL mRNA expression in both 165-day-old and 180-day-old hens. In 180-day-old hens, two distinct CpG methylation profiles at the promoter region of chicken LPL gene were revealed: in control and 0.04% betaine groups, in which LPL mRNA expressions in abdominal adipose tissue were higher, CpG methylation occurs mainly at 1st to 8th sites, the remaining sites were less methylated; whereas in 0.06 and 0.08% betaine groups, in which LPL mRNA expressions in abdominal adipose tissue were lower, methylation levels of 1st-8th CpG sites were decreased, while those of the remaining sites increased.

Effect of dietary betaine supplementation on lipogenic enzyme activities and fatty acid synthase mRNA expression in finishing pigs

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary betaine supplementation on growth performance, carcass characteristics, lipogenic enzyme activities in subcutaneous adipose tissue and mRNA expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS) in finishing pigs. Forty-eight crossbred barrows and gilts (Duroc × Seghers 15 line × Seghers 12/36 line) with a body weight of 55.7 ± 0.48 kg were divided into two groups, and three replicates of eight pigs (four barrows and four gilts) were assigned to each group. Pigs were fed a maize–soybean meal basal diet supplemented with either 0 or 1250 mg betaine/kg feed for 42 days. At the end of the trial, two pigs (one barrow and one gilt) weighing around 90 kg were selected from each replicate and slaughtered. Average daily gain increased by 5.5% (P<0.05) with betaine supplementation, but average daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio were not affected. Adding betaine to diet increased carcass lean proportion and loin muscle area (P<0.01) and decreased carcass fat proportion (P<0.01) and average backfat thickness (P<0.05). Betaine did not influence dressing proportion, proportion of skin and bone of the carcass or leaf fat weight. Betaine supplementation decreased the activities of acetyl-CoA carboxylase, FAS and malic enzyme in subcutaneous adipose tissue by 18.0% (P<0.01), 18.8% (P<0.05) and 14.5% (P<0.05), respectively, but the activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and isocitrate dehydrogenase were not affected (P>0.10). Semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed a 25% decrease in FAS mRNA expression in pigs fed betaine (P<0.05). A significant correlation between mRNA expression level and potential enzyme activity for FAS was found ( r = 0.93; P<0.01). The study suggests that the reduction in adipose tissue observed in pigs fed additional betaine might result from diminished rates of lipogenesis that is a consequence of decreased activities and gene expression of lipogenic enzymes, as evidenced by the decrease in FAS mRNA expression.

Changes in hormones, growth factor and lipid metabolism in finishing pigs fed betaine

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary betaine supplementation on carcass characteristics, hormones, growth factor and lipid metabolism in finishing pigs. Forty-eight crossbred barrows and gilts (Seghers × Seghers × Duroc) weighing about 55 kg were divided into two groups, each with three replicates of eight pigs (four barrows and four gilts) per replicate, and fed corn–soybean meal basal diets supplemented with 0 and 0.125% betaine for 42 days. At trial termination, two pigs (one barrow and one gilt) weighing about 90 kg were selected from each replicate and slaughtered for analyses. The results showed that betaine increased carcass lean percentage and longissimus muscle area by 5.19% (P < 0.01) and 17.85% (P < 0.01), respectively, and decreased carcass fat percentage and average backfat thickness by 13.07% (P < 0.01) and 10.30% (P < 0.05), respectively. Serum growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor I, free triiodothyronine, free thyroxine and insulin levels in pigs fed betaine were elevated by 45.61% (P < 0.01), 55.50% (P < 0.01), 57.95% (P < 0.01), 51.80% (P < 0.01) and 42.34% (P < 0.05), respectively. Fatty acid synthase activity in the 10th rib subcutaneous adipose tissue was decreased by 24.35% (P < 0.05) with betaine supplementation, whereas hormone-sensitive lipase activity was significantly increased (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, serum free fatty acids concentration in betaine-fed pigs was 25.75% higher compared to controls (P < 0.01). The study suggested that betaine could induce changes in hormones and growth factor in finishing pigs, and therefore could inhibit fat synthesis through reducing lipogenic enzymes activities and promote fat degradation by increasing hormone-sensitive lipase activity, with a resultant decrease in adipose tissue mass and improvement in carcass characteristics.

Dietary betaine supplementation affects energy metabolism of pigs.

The effect of dietary betaine supplementation on energy partitioning in growing pigs under energy-restricted dietary conditions was assessed. The effect of betaine on the adaptation in energy metabolism of pigs over time after a change in diet and housing also was studied. Six groups of 14 group-housed barrows were assigned to one of two experimental diets: control or betaine-supplemented (0 or 1.29 g/kg of feed). Diets were corn- and soybean meal-based and were formulated to be limiting in energy content but sufficient in amino acids. The experiment comprised a 3-wk adaptation and a 3-wk experimental period. At the start of the experimental period, initial BW was 46 kg, each group of pigs was housed in a climate-controlled respiration chamber, and all pigs were subjected to a change in diet. During the experimental period, diets were diluted with 10% oat hulls. Pigs were fed at 2.5 times the energy requirements for maintenance, and during the experimental period, heat production, energy, and nitrogen balances were measured weekly. Metabolizibility of energy did not differ (P > 0.10) between diets. Averaged over the experimental period, betaine reduced heat production (P < 0.05) and energy requirements for maintenance (P < 0.10) and consequently increased energy retention (P < 0.10). Moreover, the difference in heat production between diets increased with time (P < 0.05). Similarly, the effect of betaine on the energy requirements for maintenance changed with time (P < 0.05). Maintenance requirements were similar in wk 1 and were decreased by betaine supplementation by 5.5% during wk 3 (477 vs. 452 kJ/[kg(0.75) x d]). Results of this study show that dietary betaine supplementation affects energy partitioning by growing pigs. However, based on the observed time-related changes in energy partitioning, it was concluded that dietary betaine supplementation did not influence adaptation by pigs to a change in housing and diet.