Effects of α-lipoic acid supplementation on sexual difference of growth performance, heat exposure-induced metabolic response and lipid peroxidation of raw meat in broiler chickens

Abstract

1. The effects of α-lipoic acid administration on sexual differences in growth performance, heat exposure-induced metabolic response and lipid peroxidation of raw meat in broiler chickens were studied.

2. Two-week-old male and female broiler chicks were divided into two groups each, as a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. Half the birds were fed on a diet supplemented with α-lipoic acid (100 mg/kg) and half on a control diet. All groups were reared to 6 weeks of age at 25°C and, thereafter, exposed to 33°C for 8 h per day for 3 d.

3. Under thermo-neutral conditions, α-lipoic acid decreased feed consumption and body weight gain of male chickens. However, the feed conversion rate and tissue mass of breast muscle and abdominal fat were unchanged.

4. In plasma metabolites, α-lipoic acid increased the molar ratio of non-esterified fatty acids to free glycerol, regardless of sex and heat exposure. A decrease in β-hydroxybutyrate was observed in the α-lipoic acid-fed male chickens. In the heat-exposed chickens, α-lipoic acid lowered the molar ratio of plasma lactate to pyruvate in relation to the enhanced concentrations of plasma pyruvate. However, no sexual difference was observed.

5. The value of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in breast meat of heat-stressed chickens that was refrigerated for 3 or 7 d was higher in males than in females. An antioxidative effect of α-lipoic acid was observed in the meat of male chickens.

6. The present study suggests that the α-lipoic acid-inducing fatty acid metabolism and antioxidative effect persisted during the heat stress, even though a sexual difference in the responsiveness was seen in broiler chickens.