Consumption of Oxidized Soybean Oil Increased Intestinal Oxidative Stress and Affected Intestinal Immune Variables in Yellow-feathered Broilers.

This study investigated the effect of oxidized soybean oil in the diet of young chickens on growth performance and intestinal oxidative stress, and indices of intestinal immune function. Corn-soybean-based diets containing 2% mixtures of fresh and oxidized soybean oil provided 6 levels (0.15, 1.01, 3.14, 4.95, 7.05, and 8.97 meqO2/kg) of peroxide value (POV) in the diets. Each dietary treatment, fed for 22 d, had 6 replicates, each containing 30 birds (n = 1,080). Increasing POV levels reduced average daily feed intake (ADFI) of the broilers during d 1 to 10, body weight and average daily gain at d 22 but did not affect overall ADFI. Concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) increased in plasma and jejunum as POV increased but total antioxidative capacity (T-AOC) declined in plasma and jejunum. Catalase (CAT) activity declined in plasma and jejunum as did plasma glutathione S-transferase (GST). Effects were apparent at POV exceeding 3.14 meqO2/kg for early ADFI and MDA in jejunum, and POV exceeding 1.01 meqO2/kg for CAT in plasma and jejunum, GST in plasma and T-AOC in jejunum. Relative jejunal abundance of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) P50 and NF-κB P65 increased as dietary POV increased. Increasing POV levels reduced the jejunal concentrations of secretory immunoglobulin A and cluster of differentiation (CD) 4 and CD8 molecules with differences from controls apparent at dietary POV of 3.14 to 4.95 meqO2/kg. These findings indicated that growth performance, feed intake, and the local immune system of the small intestine were compromised by oxidative stress when young broilers were fed moderately oxidized soybean oil.

Dietary L-arginine supplementation enhances placental growth and reproductive performance in sows.

Suboptimal embryonic/fetal survival and growth remains a significant problem in mammals. Using a swine model, we tested the hypothesis that dietary L-arginine supplementation during gestation may improve pregnancy outcomes through enhancing placental growth and modulating hormonal secretions. Gestating pigs (Yorkshire×Landrace, n=108) were assigned randomly into two groups based on parity and body weight, representing dietary supplementation with 1.0% L-arginine-HCl or 1.7% L-alanine (isonitrogenous control) between days 22 and 114 of gestation. Blood samples were obtained from the ear vein on days 22, 40, 70 and 90 of gestation. On days 40, 70 and 90 of gestation, concentrations of estradiol in plasma were higher (P<0.05) in arginine-supplemented than in control sows. Moreover, arginine supplementation increased (P<0.05) the concentrations of arginine, proline and ornithine in plasma, but concentrations of urea or progesterone in plasma did not differ between the two groups of sows. Compared with the control, arginine supplementation increased (P<0.05) the total number of piglets by 1.31 per litter, the number of live-born piglets by 1.10 per litter, the litter birth weight for all piglets by 1.36 kg, and the litter birth weight for live-born piglets by 1.70 kg. Furthermore, arginine supplementation enhanced (P<0.05) placental weight by 16.2%. The weaning-to-estrus interval of sows was not affected by arginine supplementation during gestation. These results indicate that dietary arginine supplementation beneficially enhances placental growth and the reproductive performance of sows.

Effects of dietary selenomethionine supplementation on growth performance, meat quality and antioxidant property in yellow broilers.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary selenomethionine (Se-Met) supplementation on growth performance, meat quality and antioxidant property in male broilers. A total of 800 43-day-old Lingnan yellow male broilers were randomly allotted to 5 dietary treatments with four replicates of 40 birds for a period of 3 weeks ad libitum. Final BW and weight gain of birds significantly increased by Se-Met supplementation at the 0.225 mg/kg level (P < 0.05). The addition of Se-Met significantly decreased drip loss, lightness value, and elevated pH value of meat (p < 0.05). Adding sodium selenite (SS) only increased pH value of meat (p < 0.05). In plasma, supplemental Se-Met at 0.225 mg/kg level increased total antioxidant capability (T-AOC), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), catalase (CAT) activities, glutathione (GSH) concentration (p < 0.05), and decreased malondialdehyde production (p < 0.05), compared with the control and broilers fed SS diet. In breast muscle, the addition of Se-Met significantly elevated T-AOC, GPX, T-SOD, CAT activities, contents of metallothionein and GSH (p < 0.05), and reduced carbonyl protein content (p < 0.05). While compared with broilers fed SS diet, supplemental 0.225 mg/kg Se-Met increased T-AOC, GPX, CAT activities, and GSH content (p < 0.05). Therefore, dietary Se-Met supplementation could improve growth performance and meat quality by enhancing antioxidative capacity in broilers compared with SS.