Effect of dietary β-alanine supplementation on growth performance, meat quality, carnosine content, and gene expression of carnosine-related enzymes in broilers

Abstract Background: The present study evaluated the effects of maternal probiotics or synbiotics addition on growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, plasma metabolites, and related gene expression of their offspring pigs. Methods: A total of 64 Bama mini-pigs were used and randomly divided into the control, antibiotic, probiotics, or synbiotics groups, and fed experimental diets during pregnancy and lactation. After weaning, two piglets per litter and eight piglets per group were selected and fed a basal diet. At 65-, 95-, and 125-day-old, eight pigs per group were selected for analysis. Results: The results showed that probiotics addition increased the ADFI of pigs during the 66-95 day-old and the backfat thickness at 65- and 125-day-old, whereas synbiotics addition increased backfat thickness and decreased muscle percentage and loin-eye area at 125-day-old. In meat quality, probiotics or synbiotics addition increased cooking yield, pH 45min , and meat color, while decreased drip loss and shear force at different stages. However, maternal antibiotic addition showed an increased shear force at 125-day-old. Dietary probiotics or synbiotics addition in sow diets increased several amino acids (AA) contents in the plasma and longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle, including total AA (TAA), His, Met, Asp, Arg, and Leu, while decreased Gly, Pro, Ile, α-AAA, α-ABA, β-Ala, and γ-ABA at different stages. In the LT muscle fatty acid (FA) analysis, the contents of saturated FA (SFA; including C16:0, C17:0, and C20:0) and C18:1n9t were decreased, and the contents of C18:2n6c, MUFA (C16:1 and C20:1) and UFA were increased in the probiotics group, while the contents of SFA (C10:0, C12:0, and C14:0 at 65-day-old) were increased and the contents of C20:1 and C18:1n9t were decreased in the synbiotics group. Plasma biochemical analysis revealed that maternal probiotics or synbiotics addition decreased plasma AMM, UN, and GLU, while synbiotics addition increased plasma ALT, HDL-C, and TC at different stages. Moreover, maternal probiotics or synbiotics regulated muscle fiber-type, myogenic regulatory, and lipid metabolism-related gene expressions of offspring pigs. Conclusions: In conclusion, maternal probiotics or synbiotics addition, as a nutritional intervention strategy, improved feed intake and meat quality by altering the body's metabolism of offspring pigs and gene expressions related to meat quality.

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Influences of Beta-Alanine and l-Histidine Supplementation on Growth Performance, Meat Quality, Carnosine Content, and mRNA Expression of Carnosine-Related Enzymes in Broilers

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11082265 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 2265

Author(s):

Bo Qi ◽

Jing Wang ◽

Meng Hu ◽

Youbiao Ma ◽

Shugeng Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Antioxidant Capacity ◽

Growth Performance ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Average Daily Gain ◽

Dietary Supplementation ◽

Breast Muscle ◽

Combination Group ◽

Control Group ◽

Beta Alanine

The current study investigated the effect of dietary l-histidine and beta-alanine supplementation on growth performance, meat quality, carnosine content, and gene expression of carnosine-related enzymes in broilers. A two-factor design was adopted in this study. A total of 640 1-day-old male broilers were assigned to eight treatments with factorial arrangement containing four levels of l-histidine (0, 650, 1300, or 1950 mg/kg) and two levels of beta-alanine (0 or 1200 mg/kg) supplementation; 0 mg/kg histidine and/or 0 mg/kg were treated as control groups. Each treatment including eight replicates with 10 birds each and the feeding trial lasted for 42 days. Dietary supplementation with l-histidine and beta-alanine did not affect average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of broilers during the grower (22–42 days) and the entire phase (1–42 days), compared with the control group (p > 0.05). The only exception was a significantly reduced ADG in the 1950 mg/kg l-histidine group in the starter period (1–21 days, p < 0.05). l-Histidine at 1950 mg/kg significantly decreased redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) values of the meat at 45 min postmortem (p < 0.05), whereas it increased b* value and pH in breast muscle at 24 h postmortem. Moreover, dietary supplementation with beta-alanine alone or combination with l-histidine significantly increased ΔpH in breast muscle (p < 0.01). Dietary l-histidine markedly increased total superoxide dismutase activity and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) both in breast muscle (p < 0.01) and in plasma (p < 0.01), and it decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in breast muscle (p < 0.01). Dietary addition of beta-alanine, alone or combination, significantly increased T-AOC in breast muscle (p < 0.01) and markedly decreased MDA content both in breast muscle and in plasma (p < 0.01). Addition of l-histidine and beta-alanine significantly increased muscle peptide (carnosine and anserine) content (p < 0.05) and upregulated the expression of carnosine synthase, transporter of carnosine/ l-histidine, and l-histidine decarboxylase genes (p < 0.05), with greater change occurring in the combination group of 1300 mg/kg l-histidine and 1200 mg/kg beta-alanine. Overall, dietary l-histidine and beta-alanine could improve meat quality and antioxidant capacity, enhance the carnosine and anserine content, and upregulate the gene expression of carnosine synthesis-related enzymes in broilers.

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