Dietary Arginine Levels Research Articles

Requirements of juvenile marine shrimp, Penaeus monodon (Fabricius) for lysine and arginine

Feeding experiments were conducted using amino acid test diets to determine the dietary requirements of juvenile Penaeus monodon for lysine and arginine. Two sets of the test diets were prepared. The natural protein was supplied by casein and gelatin. Crystalline l-amino acids were added to provide an amino acid profile similar to shrimp muscle protein except for the test amino acid. One set of experimental diets contained graded levels of lysine at 1.18–3.28% of the diet and another set contained arginine at 0.6–3.0% of the diet. The amino acid mixture was pre-coated with carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and diets were further bound with CMC, cornstarch, and K–carrageenan to prevent leaching losses of amino acids. Shrimp postlarvae, PL20, with mean weight of 21±0.5 mg, were randomly distributed at 10 shrimp per tank in 40-l fiberglass tanks and reared on the diets for 50–56 days. Growth, survival and feed conversion efficiency were determined at termination of feeding trials and signs of nutritional deficiency noted. Lysine and arginine requirements were determined from relationships between weight gains and dietary lysine and arginine levels as analyzed by the broken-line regression method. The requirement of juvenile P. monodon for lysine was estimated to be 2.08% of the diet or 5.2% of dietary protein while the requirement for arginine was 1.85% of the diet or 5.3% of dietary protein. This information is crucial in formulating cost-effective practical diets for juvenile tiger shrimp.

Fatty acid and amino acid composition of eggs, muscle and midgut glands of freshwater prawns, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man), raised in fertilized ponds, unfertilized ponds or fed prepared diets

Fatty acid and amino acid profiles were determined in three tissues (eggs, muscle and midgut glands) from freshwater prawns, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man), raised unfed in ponds with no organic fertilization, unfed in ponds with organic fertilization or fed a formulated, pelleted diet. Amino acid profiles of tail muscle and eggs were not treatment-dependent. Comparison of amino acid profiles of the diet with those of tissues of animals fed that diet suggest that dietary levels of arginine, histidine, methionine, and especially lysine may be suboptimal. Fatty acid profiles of the midgut gland, tail muscle, and to a lesser extent, eggs reflected the fatty acid composition of the diet in the fed treatment, the organic fertilizer material in the fertilized treatment and natural food organisms in the unfed treatment. Direct consumption of organic fertilizer particles by the prawns is supported by these data. Selective retention of essential fatty acids appears likely in all three treatments. Comparison of the fatty acid composition of prawn eggs and muscle tissue with that of the pelleted diet indicates that 18: 3(n-3), 20: 5(n-3), and especially 20: 4(n-6) are probably below optimal levels. However, under practical culture conditions, prawn growth may not be significantly reduced because of relatively low dietary requirements and contributions from natural foods in the ponds.

Nutrition of Atlantic Salmon ( Salmo salar): The Requirement and Metabolism of Arginine

This experiment was conducted to determine the dietary arginine requirement of medium sized Atlantic salmon (383 ± 62 g) given a high energy diet (26.1 KJ/g). Zein was used as major protein source in the experimental diets supplemented with synthetic amino acids resembling the amino acid pattern of fish meal, with the exception of arginine. Arginine content was 11.3 (2.7), 16.8 (4.0), 20.2 (4.8), 26.0 (6.2), and 28.6 (6.8) g/kg dietary dry matter (% of dietary protein). Expressed in terms of digestible energy the arginine content was 0.53, 0.78, 0.94, 1.21, and 1.33 g/MJ. Protein content on dry weight was 42% in all diets. Weight gain and protein efficiency parameters were together with increasing levels of urea and ornithine in plasma and free arginine in muscle and plasma used to indicate the requirement of arginine. The growth and protein retention obtained indicated that Atlantic salmon has a requirement of arginine of 21.2–21.6 g/kg dietary dry weight (5.0–5.1% of the protein) or 1.0 g/MJ digestible energy. The metabolic parameters indicated a requirement of 20.2 g/kg dietary dry weight (4.8% of the protein) or 0.94 g/MJ. Increased dietary levels of arginine seemed to interact with the tissue free concentrations of several indispensable amino acids.

DE NOVO SYNTHESIS OF HOMOARGININE IN CHICKENS IS INFLUENCED BY DIETARY CONCENTRATIONS OF LYSINE AND ARGININE

The influence of different dietary ratios of lysine and arginine on de novo synthesis of homoarginine in chickens was investigated in this study. No homoarginine was detected in the diets, but was found in the plasma of birds confirming that homoarginine is synthesised de novo in chickens. Increasing dietary arginine levels increased plasma arginine and decreased plasma homoarginine, indicating possible inhibition of homoarginine synthesis. Increasing dietary lysine levels, on the other hand, decreased plasma arginine, but had no consistent effect on plasma homoarginine. When dietary lysine concentrations were low compared to arginine, homoarginine synthesis was observed to be lower. The de novo synthesis of homoarginine reflected, to some extent, the relative concentrations of lysine and arginine in the plasma. The relationship between plasma lysine/arginine ratios and plasma concentrations of homoarginine appears to be biphasic. High correlations (r=0.82) were noted at ratios lower than 4.5, whereas homoarginine concentrations were unaffected (r=0.19) when the ratios were above 4.5.Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Inc.

A note on the use of plasma urea level to validate the arginine requirement assessed by growth data in seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax)

Duplicate groups of 60 European seabass (mean weight 2.1 g) were fed for 9 weeks with 7 isonitrogenous (46% crude protein, CP) and isolipidic (12% ether extract) semipurified diets obtained by adding graded levels of L-arginine to a basal diet. By analysis of dose-weight gain relationship, the dietary arginine requirement was found to be 3.9 g/100 g CP (N'6.25). A similar value (3.8 g/100 g CP) was obtained when the 5 h (peak) post-prandial plasma urea response relative to that of fish fed the basal diet were regressed against the dietary arginine level, suggesting the possible use of this parameter to validate the arginine requirement estimated from growth data.

Arginine requirement and effect of different dietary arginine and lysine levels for fingerling sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax)

Groups of 60 European sea bass fingerlings weighing 2.1 ± 0.05 g/fish were kept in each of 18 flow-through 65-litre tanks supplied with 2.5 l/min of brackishwater (temperature, 25 Co; salinity, 25 ppt). Duplicate tanks were fed for 9 weeks with 9 isonitrogenous (46 ± 0.2%; N × 6.25) and isolipidic (12 ± 0.2% by ether extract) semipurified diets obtained from a basal mixture formulated to be limiting in arginine (1% by weight). The basal diet contained maize gluten meal (300 g/kg), herring meal (100 g/kg) and mixtures of indispensable and dispensable amino acids to simulate, excluding arginine and lysine, the amino acid profile of sea bass muscle protein. Seven diets were used to evaluate the arginine requirement. They were obtained by adding 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 g/kg of pure l-arginine to the basal mixture while maintaining the lysine level equal to the sea bass requirement (2.2 g/100 g diet). Diets 8 and 9 were prepared to contain either a 50% excess or deficiency of lysine and a constant level of arginine (1.95 g/100 g diet). By analysis of the doseresponse relationship based on growth data, the dietary requirement of arginine was found to be 1.81 ± 0.005 g/100 g diet corresponding to 3.9 g/16 g N. A similar value was obtained when the 5-h (peak) postprandial plasma urea concentrations were regressed against the dietary level of arginine (1.78 ± 0.06 g/100 g diet), suggesting the possible use of this parameter to confirm the arginine requirement estimated by conventional growth experiments. From the results of the present experiment it would seem that sea bass fingerlings, like other warmwater fish species, are apparently not sensitive to moderate disproportions of dietary arginine and lysine.

Requirements for lysine and arginine by rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss)

A series of experiments was conducted to determine lysine and arginine requirements of fingerling rainbow trout. Four groups of 30 trout each were assigned per diet and fed three times daily to satiation at 15 °C. The diets contained varying levels of lysine and arginine. Weight gain of 13.7-g trout over a 6-week feeding period increased linearly with lysine level up to 1.4% of diet, but was not different at 1.4 and 1.6% lysine. Feed efficiency and nitrogen retention improved as the lysine level in the diet increased. Carcass protein content of trout fed diets containing sufficient ivsine was higher than that of trout fed diets deficient in lysine. No significant differences in weight gain were shown between 11.6-g trout fed diets containing 0.47% arginine and either 1.5 or 3.0% lysine, indicating no apparent interactions between the dietary arginine and lysine levels. Weight gain of 12.4-g trout over a 6-week feeding period significantly ( P < 0.05) increased with dietary arginine level up to 1.3%, but further increases in the arginine level did not have a significant effect. A similar trend was noted in feed efficiency, nitrogen retention and carcass protein content. Analysis of weight gain versus dietary lysine or arginine level indicated that the lysine and arginine requirements of young trout are 1.30 (3.71) and 1.41 (4.03)% of diet (protein), respectively.

Arginine-Deficient Diets Alter Plasma and Tissue Amino Acids in Young and Aged Rats

Blood and urine metabolites were measured in two experiments for young (2-mo-old) and aged (20-mo-old) male Sprague-Dawley rats fed arginine-devoid diets made isonitrogenous to a control 1.12% arginine diet by adding alanine or glycine. Diet, fed for 7 or 13 d, had little effect on urinary or plasma ammonia and urea. Urinary orotate excretion was more than 40-fold higher in rats fed the arginine-deficient diets (P less than 0.01) in both experiments. Source of nonessential N (alanine or glycine) in the arginine-deficient diets did not alter orotic acid excretion or plasma or urine ammonia or urea. Changes in plasma arginine, alanine and glycine concentrations reflected the levels of these amino acids in the diet. Tissue ornithine levels reflected dietary arginine level, but tissue citrulline was unaffected by dietary arginine. Glutamate and glutamine were greater in the plasma and liver of rats fed arginine-deficient diets. Plasma concentrations of glutamate and glutamine were positively correlated with urinary orotic acid excretion (P less than 0.05) and ornithine and arginine were negatively correlated with orotic acid excretion (P less than 0.01). Increased tissue glutamine may be related to the greater orotate excretion in rats fed arginine-devoid diets. The metabolic responses to dietary arginine deficiency were similar in young and aged rats. In general, concentrations of amino acids in plasma, liver and spleen were higher in aged rats.

Testing a mechanism of control in human cholesterol metabolism: relation of arginine and glycine to insulin and glucagon

Eight men were given 2 casein meals, one with and one without a supplement of arginine and glycine, to measure the effect on plasma amino acids, insulin and glucagon. Supplementation resulted in increased levels of plasma glucagon, glycine and arginine, a tendency to decreased insulin and significantly lower insulin/ glucagon ratio, tryptophan and tyrosine. The data suggest that insulin and glucagon, which control cholesterol metabolism, respond to dietary and postprandial plasma amino acid levels of arginine and glycine.

Arginine requirement and status assessed by different biochemical indices in rainbow trout ( Salmo gairdneri R.)

Arginine status was assessed in rainbow trout fed zein/fish meal-based diets containing graded amounts of arginine (1 to 2.4% in steps of 0.2%) or different levels of lysine (0.8, 2.0 and 3.0%), using different biochemical indices. Patterns of changes in free arginine levels in plasma, muscle or liver were not sufficient to estimate arginine needs according to dose-response analysis. The relative incorporation of labelled arginine into muscle protein decreased up to a dietary arginine level of 1.4–1.6% and then was restored. The oxidation of arginine increased up to a dietary level of 1.4%. There was a large accumulation of radioactivity, probably linked to different catabolites of arginine, in the soluble pool of the muscle, above a dietary arginine level of 1.2%. The catabolism of arginine, assessed by other criteria such as plasma urea and urinary excretion of urea, increased when dietary arginine exceeded 1.4% but the urea pathway accounted for less than 50% of arginine catabolism. An alternative pathway of arginine metabolism, that of creatime synthesis, also increased with an increasing dietary supply of arginine. With the experimental diet used, it is concluded that the arginine requirement can be met by a total dietary supply of 1.2%. At higher levels of arginine supplementation, the level of dietary lysine should be above 2.0% of the diet.

Arginine Requirement and Apparent Absence of a Lysine-Arginine Antagonist in Fingerling Channel Catfish

A series of growth studies, utilizing casein-gelatin based diets supplemented with crystalline amino acids, were conducted to determine the arginine requirement for fingerling channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) and to evaluate the effects of excessive levels of dietary lysine and arginine. Weight gain and feed efficiency data indicate the arginine requirement to be 1.03 ± 0.07% and 1.00 ± 0.06% of the dry diet, respectively. Based on growth this corresponds to 4.29% of the dietary protein. There was no evidence of an arginine-lysine antagonism when excess lysine was fed in diets adequate or marginal in arginine. Similarly, growth and feed efficiency data suggest the lack of an antagonism when excess arginine is added to diets marginal in lysine. Apparently channel catfish are not as sensitive to disproportionate lysine and arginine levels as are other animals.arginine lysine-arginine channel catfish

Effect of Dietary Arginine Level on Urinary Orotate and Citrate Excretion in Growing Kittens

Three experiments were conducted to examine the effect of dietary arginine on urinary orotic acid excretion and the relationship between orotic aciduria and the cat's dietary arginine requirement. In the first experiment, diets containing 1.66 or 0.83% arginine were compared for their ability to sustain growth and food intake and prevent orotic aciduria. Growth and food intake were similar for each diet but the cats fed the 0.83% arginine excreted seven times as much orotic acid as those fed the 1.66% arginine. In the second experiment, diets containing 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0% arginine were compared for their ability to support growth and food intake and to prevent citric and orotic aciduria. Growth and food intake were optimized with arginine as 0.8% of the diet. Over the range of 0.4--1% arginine, orotic acid excretion was inversely related to the level of arginine, also orotate excretion of cats fed all levels of arginine was greater than that recorded in cats given 1.66% dietary arginine. The estimated level of dietary arginine required to minimize orotic acid excretion was 1.05%, which is 0.3% in excess of that required for maximum growth. Citrate excretion did not respond to dietary arginine level. In the third experiment, cats receiving a commercial cat food containing 1.74% arginine did not show orotic aciduria.

Lysine and Arginine Requirements of the Domestic Cat

Domestic kittens were used in four experiments to establish quantitative requirements for lysine and arginine. A purified L-amino acid diet (by calculation, 4,700 kcal metabolizable energy/kg diet) was employed throughout. Weight gain, gain:feed and nitrogen retention data of cats fed dietary lysine levels ranging from 0.48 to 1.92% suggested a requirement not exceeding 0.80%. The dietary arginine requirement for maximal gain was assayed at this level of lysine and found to be not greater than 0.83%. A dietary arginine level of 0.33% resulted in vomiting and extreme lethargy within 4 hours of ingestion.

Further Studies on the Arginine Requirement of the Rabbit

The arginine requirement of young, female rabbits was reassessed using body weight gain, serum arginine concentration and expired 14CO2 following administration of 14C arginine as criteria of adequacy. With a diet that provided the indispensable amino acids at the previously estimated requirement level the arginine requirement was estimated at or near 0.6% of diet by all three of the criteria studied. When an amino acid pattern based on isolated soy protein was fed, a significantly lower serum arginine level was observed with 0.6% dietary arginine corroborating that the arginine requirement may be higher when this pattern is fed than when the requirement pattern is fed. Liver arginase and kidney transamidinase levels were normal and were not influenced by dietary arginine levels over the range used. Serum creatine phosphokinase, which has been studied in other species in relation to muscular dystrophy, showed a significant increase with increasing dietary level of arginine. No signs of this disorder however, were observed. Adult male rabbits maintained body weight and showed no change in serum arginine concentration when both arginine and glycine were completely omitted from the diet.

Modification of the Illinois Reference Standard Amino Acid Mixture

Based upon several recent studies involving reassessment of the essential amino acid requirements of the young chick, levels of dietary arginine, lysine, leucine, valine and glycine were decreased and proline and glutamic acid increased from those present in the Illinois Reference Standard (RS) amino acid mixture. Performance of chicks fed this modified amino acid mixture was as good as or better than that observed with the RS mixture and approached the performance level of chicks fed a practical-type 24% protein corn-soybean meal diet.