Effects of dietary surpluses of methionine and lysine on growth performance, blood serum parameters, immune responses, and carcass traits of broilers

Figures & data

Table 1. Ingredients, chemical composition, and metabolizable energy of the starter, grower, and finisher diets, and levels of Met and Lys relative to Ross recommendations (Ross 2007).

Treatment	Starter (from 1 to 14 d)			Grower (from 15 to 28 d)			Finisher (from 29 to 42 d)
	Met 100%^a			Met 100%^b			Met 100%^c
	Lys 100%	Lys 110%	Lys 120%	Lys 100%	Lys 110%	Lys 120%	Lys 100%	Lys 110%	Lys 120%
Ingredients (%)
Corn	58.94	59.23	59.52	59.87	60.10	60.38	65.09	65.30	65.56
Soybean meal	34.23	33.81	33.40	32.32	31.97	31.59	27.27	26.97	26.63
Soybean oil	2.33	2.26	2.19	4.00	3.95	3.88	3.99	3.94	3.87
Dicalcium phosphate	1.94	1.95	1.95	1.67	1.68	1.68	1.58	1.57	1.57
Calcium carbonate	1.40	1.40	1.40	1.17	1.17	1.17	1.12	1.13	1.13
Vitamin premix^d	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25
Mineral premix^d	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25
Sodium chloride	0.28	0.28	0.28	0.32	0.32	0.32	0.32	0.32	0.32
Sodium bicarbonate	0.10	0.10	0.10	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05
DL-Methionine	0.14	0.14	0.15	0.10	0.10	0.105	0.09	0.09	0.09
L-Lysine	0.14	0.33	0.52	–	0.16	0.325	–	0.14	0.28
Calculated chemical composition (% as fed)
Dry matter	86.33	86.14	85.97	87.02	86.86	86.70	87.09	86.97	86.83
Crude protein	22.00	22.00	22.00	21.00	21.00	21.00	19.00	19.00	19.00
Crude fat	4.91	4.85	4.79	6.60	6.55	6.49	6.74	6.69	6.63
Linoleic acid	2.62	2.59	2.56	3.49	3.47	3.43	3.58	3.55	3.52
Crude fibre	2.63	2.62	2.61	2.58	2.57	2.56	2.50	2.49	2.48
Calcium	1.05	1.05	1.05	0.90	0.90	0.90	0.85	0.85	0.85
Phosphorus	0.74	0.74	0.74	0.68	0.68	0.68	0.64	0.64	0.64
Available phosphorus^e	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.45	0.45	0.45	0.42	0.42	0.42
Potassium	0.87	0.86	0.86	0.84	0.83	0.82	0.75	0.74	0.74
Chloride	0.24	0.27	0.31	0.23	0.26	0.30	0.23	0.26	0.29
Manganese (mg/kg)	402.69	402.55	402.39	400.41	400.30	400.15	398.08	397.96	397.83
Sodium	0.16	0.16	0.16	0.16	0.16	0.16	0.16	0.16	0.16
Zinc (mg/kg)	323.24	323.09	322.93	322.20	322.08	321.93	320.36	320.24	320.11
Choline (g/kg)	1.52	1.51	1.50	1.47	1.47	1.46	1.37	1.36	1.35
Folic acid (mg/kg)	2.02	2.00	1.99	1.95	1.94	1.93	1.79	1.78	1.77
Available amino acids ^e (% as fed)
Arginine	1.42	1.40	1.39	1.35	1.34	1.33	1.20	1.19	1.18
Glycine	0.90	0.89	0.88	0.86	0.85	0.85	0.77	0.77	0.76
Serine	1.07	1.06	1.05	1.02	1.02	1.01	0.92	0.91	0.90
Glycine + Serine	2.31	2.28	2.26	2.21	2.19	2.17	1.96	1.95	1.93
Histidine	0.57	0.57	0.56	0.55	0.55	0.54	0.50	0.50	0.49
Isoleucine	0.90	0.89	0.88	0.86	0.85	0.85	0.77	0.76	0.76
Leucine	1.87	1.86	1.84	1.81	1.80	1.79	1.67	1.66	1.65
Lysine	1.27	1.40	1.53	1.11	1.22	1.33	0.98	1.07	1.17
Methionine	0.47	0.47	0.47	0.42	0.42	0.42	0.38	0.38	0.38
Cystine	0.35	0.35	0.35	0.34	0.34	0.37	0.31	0.31	0.31
Methionine + Cystine	0.83	0.82	0.82	0.76	0.76	0.76	0.70	0.69	0.69
Phenylalanine	1.03	1.02	1.01	0.98	0.98	0.97	0.89	0.88	0.87
Tyrosine	0.84	0.84	0.83	0.81	0.80	0.80	0.73	0.72	0.72
Phenylalanine + Tyrosine	1.87	1.86	1.84	1.79	1.78	1.77	1.61	1.60	1.59
Threonine	0.81	0.80	0.80	0.78	0.77	0.77	0.70	0.69	0.69
Tryptofan	0.29	0.29	0.28	0.28	0.27	0.27	0.24	0.24	0.24
Valine	1.00	0.99	0.98	0.96	0.95	0.94	0.87	0.86	0.85
Metabolizable energy ^f (MJ/kg)	12.67	12.67	12.67	13.19	13.19	13.19	13.40	13.40	13.40

Lys, lysine; Met, methionine.

^aFor the starter period, the Met levels (100%, 110%, and 120% of Ross 308 recommendations; Ross 2007) were 0.47, 0.52, and 0.57% of the diet.

^bFor the grower period, the Met levels (100%, 110%, and 120% of Ross 308 recommendations; Ross 2007) were 0.42, 0.46, and 0.50% of the diet.

^cFor the finisher period, the Met levels (100%, 110%, and 120% of Ross 308 recommendations; Ross 2007) were 0.38, 0.42, and 0.46% of the diet.

^dAmount per kg: vitamin A, 5,000 IU; vitamin D₃, 500 IU; vitamin E, 3 mg; vitamin K₃, 1.5 mg; vitamin B₂, 1 mg; calcium pantothenate, 4 mg; niacin, 15 mg; vitamin B₆, 13 mg; Cu, 3 mg; Zn, 15 mg; Mn, 20 mg; Fe, 10 mg; K, 0.3 mg.

^eMetabolic availability (from UFFDA output; Pesti and Miller 1993).

^fMetabolizable energy was estimated using the Carpenter and Clegg equation (Leeson and Summers 2001).

Table 2. Growth performance of Ross 308 broilers that received diets with different levels of Met and Lys (100%, 110%, and 120% of Ross 308 recommendations; Ross 2007).

	Met 100%			Met 110%			Met 120%			SEM	P-Value			Lys contrasts
Item	Lys 100%	Lys 110%	Lys 120%	Lys 100%	Lys 110%	Lys 120%	Lys 100%	Lys 110%	Lys 120%		Met	Lys	Met × Lys	Linear	Quadratic
ADFI (g)
d1 to d14	25.91	26.09	24.38	26.78	26.16	25.49	26.38	26.51	25.15	0.388	0.11	<0.01	0.69	<0.01	0.05
d15 to d28	81.92	85.72	83.65	86.70	84.81	80.09	87.81	82.59	82.21	2.626	0.98	0.27	0.38	0.12	0.74
d29 to d42	158.18	156.46	160.54	151.48	160.07	166.66	161.15	157.45	153.68	2.919	0.71	0.37	0.02	–	–
d1 to d42	88.67	89.42	89.53	88.32	90.35	90.85	91.78	88.85	87.01	19.232	1.00	1.00	1.00	0.97	0.99
ADG (g)
d1 to d14	17.78	17.00	17.50	18.52	17.72	16.49	18.04	16.89	16.18	0.592	0.53	0.03	0.52	0.01	0.61
d15 to d28	48.45	43.09	44.60	47.25	45.80	44.08	46.44	42.57	48.88	2.134	0.95	0.15	0.35	0.39	0.08
d29 to d42	91.51	86.22	84.18	83.08	87.70	93.46	88.32	84.01	80.32	2.539	0.17	0.66	0.01	–	–
d1 to d42	52.58	48.77	48.76	49.62	50.41	51.34	50.94	47.83	48.46	10.117	0.99	0.97	1.00	0.85	0.86
G:F
d1 to d14	0.69	0.65	0.72	0.69	0.68	0.65	0.68	0.64	0.64	0.027	0.38	0.37	0.39	0.46	0.23
d15 to d28	0.59	0.51	0.53	0.54	0.54	0.55	0.53	0.52	0.59	0.022	0.99	0.06	0.10	0.87	0.03
d29 to d42	0.58	0.55	0.52	0.55	0.55	0.56	0.55	0.53	0.52	0.020	0.52	0.40	0.60	0.19	0.84
d1 to d42	0.62	0.57	0.59	0.60	0.59	0.59	0.59	0.56	0.59	0.025	0.75	0.41	0.92	0.56	0.23
ADEI (kcal)
d1 to d14	75.79	76.32	71.31	78.34	76.51	74.56	77.15	77.54	73.57	1.135	0.11	<0.01	0.69	<0.01	0.05
d15 to d28	243.72	255.01	248.87	257.95	252.30	238.26	261.25	245.69	244.59	7.813	0.98	0.27	0.38	0.12	0.74
d29 to d42	470.58	465.47	477.62	450.66	476.22	495.81	479.42	468.43	457.19	8.685	0.71	0.37	0.02	–	–
d1 to d42	263.36	265.60	265.93	262.31	268.34	269.54	272.61	263.89	258.45	57.394	1.00	1.00	1.00	0.98	0.99
G:ME (g/kcal)
d1to d14	0.23	0.22	0.25	0.23	0.23	0.22	0.23	0.22	0.22	0.009	0.38	0.37	0.39	0.46	0.23
d15 to d28	0.20	0.17	0.18	0.18	0.18	0.18	0.18	0.17	0.20	0.007	0.99	0.06	0.10	0.87	0.03
d29 to d42	0.19	0.19	0.18	0.18	0.18	0.19	0.18	0.18	0.18	0.007	0.52	0.40	0.60	0.19	0.84
d1 to d42	0.21	0.19	0.20	0.20	0.20	0.20	0.20	0.19	0.20	0.009	0.77	0.46	0.94	0.58	0.26
ADPI (g)
d1 to d14	5.31	5.35	5.00	5.49	5.36	5.22	5.40	5.43	5.16	0.080	0.11	<0.01	0.69	<0.01	0.05
d15 to d28	15.98	16.71	16.31	16.91	16.54	15.62	17.12	16.10	16.03	0.512	0.98	0.27	0.38	0.12	0.74
d29 to d42	29.26	28.95	29.70	28.02	29.61	30.83	29.81	29.12	28.43	0.540	0.71	0.37	0.02	–	–
d1 to d42	16.85	17.00	17.00	16.81	17.17	17.22	17.45	16.89	16.54	3.478	1.00	1.00	1.00	0.97	0.99
G:P
d1 to d14	3.35	3.18	3.52	3.37	3.30	3.16	3.34	3.11	3.14	0.132	0.38	0.37	0.39	0.46	0.23
d15 to d28	3.03	2.59	2.74	2.80	2.77	2.82	2.72	2.65	3.04	0.113	0.99	0.06	0.10	0.87	0.03
d29 to d42	3.13	2.98	2.84	2.97	2.96	3.03	2.97	2.89	2.83	0.108	0.52	0.40	0.60	0.19	0.84
d1 to d42	3.17	2.92	3.03	3.05	3.01	3.00	3.01	2.88	3.00	0.098	0.62	0.24	0.82	0.44	0.13

ADFI, average daily feed intake; ADG, average daily gain; G:F, gain to feed ratio; ADEI, average daily energy intake; G:ME, gain to metabolizable energy intake ratio; ADPI, average daily protein intake; G:P, gain to protein intake ratio.

Significance was considered at P ≤ 0.05 and tendency was declared at 0.05 < P ≤ 0.10.

Table 3. Carcass traits and relative weights (percentage of eviscerated carcass) of abdominal fat, anatomical parts, gut tracts, and organs related to immune system function of Ross 308 broilers that received diets with different levels of Met and Lys (100%, 110%, and 120% of Ross 308 recommendations; Ross 2007).

	Met 100%			Met 110%			Met 120%			SEM	P-Value			Met contrasts		Lys contrasts
Item	Lys 100%	Lys 110%	Lys 120%	Lys 100%	Lys 110%	Lys 120%	Lys 100%	Lys 110%	Lys 120%		Met	Lys	Met × Lys	Linear	Quadratic	Linear	Quadratic
Carcass traits
Pre-slaughtered BW (g)	3,323	2,639	2,851	2,748	2,741	2,714	2,797	2,704	2,783	143.5	0.20	0.10	0.18	0.15	0.27	0.16	0.10
Carcass weight^a (g)	2,583	2,273	2,443	2,336	2,360	2,339	2,428	2,301	2,462	96.4	0.54	0.22	0.51	0.66	0.32	0.67	0.09
Full carcass weight^b (g)	2,406	2,109	2,267	2,170	2,185	2,172	2,258	2,131	2,286	92.2	0.54	0.20	0.53	0.64	0.32	0.64	0.09
Eviscerated carcass weight (g)	1,831	1,664	1,714	1,622	1,688	1,697	1,767	1,607	1,735	75.8	0.57	0.37	0.50	0.60	0.36	0.69	0.18
Carcass yield (%)	76.10	78.91	75.68	74.70	77.31	78.16	78.26	75.38	75.88	1.493	0.95	0.77	0.17	0.75	0.99	0.86	0.49
Abdominal fat and anatomical parts (%)
Abdominal fat	1.58	1.70	1.76	2.17	1.93	2.06	1.88	1.88	1.76	0.285	0.29	0.98	0.95	0.50	0.16	0.95	0.87
Breast	33.82	35.16	34.39	32.20	34.66	35.56	33.10	32.75	33.69	1.320	0.48	0.55	0.86	0.25	0.71	0.45	0.44
Drumsticks	29.88	30.56	29.50	29.62	29.33	31.73	31.82	29.76	30.75	0.821	0.49	0.50	0.52	0.25	0.79	0.74	0.26
Wings	3.37	3.36	3.15	3.14	3.44	3.15	3.35	3.21	3.32	0.114	0.74	0.47	0.30	0.84	0.47	0.48	0.32
Neck	2.32	2.46	2.48	2.12	2.32	2.24	2.54	2.46	2.39	0.154	0.17	0.78	0.82	0.76	0.07	0.72	0.55
Gut (%)
Duodenum	0.75	0.78	0.79	0.80	0.83	0.70	0.73	0.66	0.67	0.056	0.11	0.61	0.57	0.08	0.25	0.37	0.70
Jejunum	2.19	1.51	1.94	2.51	1.73	2.02	1.72	2.51	2.05	0.327	0.68	0.70	0.17	0.43	0.68	0.61	0.51
Ileum	2.04	1.60	1.97	2.44	1.88	1.90	1.89	2.18	1.88	0.295	0.70	0.56	0.56	0.64	0.49	0.39	0.53
Colon	0.20	0.15	0.25	0.19	0.13	0.23	0.14	0.16	0.20	0.046	0.42	0.43	0.44	0.88	0.20	0.36	0.36
Right cecum	0.25	0.41	0.25	0.32	0.36	0.26	0.26	0.26	0.31	0.045	0.64	0.11	0.92	0.35	0.95	0.17	0.10
Left cecum	0.28	0.31	0.20	0.25	0.31	0.31	0.24	0.24	0.29	0.047	0.70	0.73	0.42	0.82	0.43	0.77	0.47
Rectum	0.05	0.06	0.06	0.15	0.07	0.06	0.05	0.06	0.07	0.016	0.04	0.21	0.02	0.76	0.01	0.13	0.35
Organs related to immune system (%)
Thymus	0.31	0.28	0.23	0.28	0.18	0.26	0.26	0.31	0.21	0.046	0.70	0.43	0.32	0.69	0.47	0.20	0.94
Liver	3.73	2.35	2.76	2.81	2.87	2.61	2.86	3.11	2.82	0.220	0.55	0.08	0.02	0.92	0.28	0.04	0.34
Spleen	0.08	0.11	0.10	0.13	0.12	0.09	0.09	0.11	0.08	0.021	0.57	0.40	0.70	0.64	0.34	0.59	0.22
Bursa of Fabricius	0.14	0.26	0.15	0.17	0.12	0.15	0.12	0.18	0.15	0.028	0.22	0.19	0.06	0.18	0.26	0.85	0.07

^aDefeathered carcass weight.

^bFull carcass without head and drumsticks.

Significance was considered at P ≤ 0.05 and tendency was declared at 0.05 < P ≤ 0.10.

Table 4. Blood serum parameters of Ross 308 broilers that received diets with different levels of Met and Lys (100%, 110%, and 120% of Ross 308 recommendations; Ross 2007).

	Met 100%			Met 110%			Met 120%			SEM	P-Value			Met contrasts		Lys contrasts
Item	Lys 100%	Lys 110%	Lys 120%	Lys 100%	Lys 110%	Lys 120%	Lys 100%	Lys 110%	Lys 120%		Met	Lys	Met × Lys	Linear	Quadratic	Linear	Quadratic
Uric acid (mg/dl)	5.00	5.13	5.07	4.00	5.87	4.60	4.83	6.13	5.77	0.500	0.20	0.05	0.48	0.23	0.17	0.21	0.03
Total cholesterol (mg/dl)	137.00	123.67	130.33	106.00	144.33	144.67	147.33	138.00	146.00	14.733	0.48	0.70	0.38	0.28	0.61	0.41	0.99
Triglycerides (mg/dl)	85.33	126.00	108.33	108.67	114.00	119.33	111.00	124.33	111.33	18.177	0.81	0.43	0.87	0.55	0.82	0.46	0.29
VLDL (mg/dl)	17.00	25.33	21.67	21.67	23.00	24.00	22.00	25.00	22.33	3.643	0.81	0.38	0.87	0.56	0.80	0.42	0.26
HDL cholesterol (mg/dl)	66.67	70.00	65.33	81.67	80.33	80.67	71.33	88.33	89.33	8.827	0.09	0.65	0.75	0.04	0.37	0.48	0.37
LDL cholesterol (mg/dl)	53.33	28.33	43.33	36.00	41.00	40.00	54.00	39.33	34.33	9.973	0.90	0.36	0.53	0.91	0.66	0.31	0.32
LDL/HDL	0.85	0.42	0.67	0.44	0.52	0.52	0.89	0.48	0.43	0.200	0.64	0.31	0.57	0.77	0.38	0.28	0.27
Glucose (mg/dl)	213.00	241.00	258.33	232.00	241.00	235.00	247.00	254.33	231.33	6.934	0.32	0.05	0.01	0.25	0.34	0.07	0.07
Total protein (g/dl)	3.77	3.17	3.33	3.67	3.47	3.67	3.60	3.50	3.60	0.249	0.66	0.36	0.83	0.49	0.56	0.49	0.21
Albumin (g/dl)	1.43	1.23	1.27	1.43	1.37	1.47	1.33	1.27	1.47	0.132	0.59	0.51	0.84	0.68	0.35	1.00	0.25
Globulin (g/dl)	2.33	1.93	2.07	2.23	2.10	2.20	2.27	2.23	2.13	0.136	0.67	0.24	0.68	0.38	0.86	0.21	0.24
ALP (U/l)	314.33	518.67	298.00	365.67	233.17	377.63	286.20	689.67	395.07	90.671	0.23	0.10	0.06	0.29	0.17	0.64	0.04
Calcium (g/dl)	10.33	10.43	10.67	10.67	10.57	10.77	10.53	10.53	10.63	0.220	0.59	0.53	0.98	0.63	0.37	0.34	0.58
Phosphorus (g/dl)	7.07	7.63	6.87	8.13	7.17	7.50	7.87	7.43	6.87	0.283	0.23	0.05	0.11	0.40	0.14	0.02	0.89

VLDL, very low-density lipoprotein; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; ALP, alkaline phosphatase.

Significance was considered at P ≤ 0.05 and tendency was declared at 0.05 < P ≤ 0.10.

Table 5. Antibody titres against avian influenza (AI), Newcastle disease virus (NDV), and sheep red blood cells (SRBC) in Ross 308 broilers that received diets with different levels of Met and Lys (100%, 110%, and 120% of Ross 308 recommendations; Ross 2007).

	Met 100%			Met 110%			Met 120%			SEM	P-Value			Met contrasts		Lys contrasts
Item	Lys 100%	Lys 110%	Lys 120%	Lys 100%	Lys 110%	Lys 120%	Lys 100%	Lys 110%	Lys 120%		Met	Lys	Met × Lys	Linear	Quadratic	Linear	Quadratic
AI, IgG2
Within 30d	2.33	2.33	2.67	2.67	3.00	2.33	2.00	4.00	2.00	0.685	0.90	0.30	0.47	0.70	0.82	1.00	0.13
Within 40d	4.67	3.33	4.00	3.67	3.67	3.00	3.33	4.67	3.00	0.471	0.37	0.27	0.09	0.40	0.26	0.17	0.42
NDV, IgG2
10d after 1st injection	1.33	2.00	2.33	2.00	1.67	2.33	1.33	2.00	2.67	0.471	0.95	0.09	0.76	0.78	0.87	0.03	0.74
22d after 2^nd injection	5.33	4.00	5.00	3.67	6.33	5.00	4.00	6.67	5.33	0.786	0.69	0.14	0.11	0.40	0.92	0.24	0.11
SRBC
14d after 1st injection
Total Ig	1.00	1.00	0.33	0.33	1.33	0.33	1.33	1.00	0.33	0.509	0.87	0.18	0.74	0.79	0.65	0.20	0.18
IgG	0.33	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.33	0.00	0.00	0.157	0.61	0.16	0.74	1.00	0.33	0.10	0.33
IgM	0.67	1.00	0.33	0.33	1.33	0.33	1.00	1.00	0.33	0.430	0.94	0.11	0.83	0.76	0.86	0.36	0.06
14 after 2nd injection
Total Ig	2.33	3.33	1.66	3.33	2.00	2.33	2.67	2.66	2.33	0.762	0.98	0.53	0.59	0.86	0.92	0.30	0.68
IgG	0.33	1.67	0.33	1.67	0.67	1.00	1.00	0.66	0.00	0.430	0.31	0.22	0.11	0.54	0.16	0.13	0.37
IgM	2.00	1.66	1.33	1.66	1.33	1.33	1.67	2.00	2.33	0.521	0.44	0.96	0.77	0.44	0.31	0.80	0.88

Significance was considered at P ≤ 0.05 and tendency was declared at 0.05 < P ≤ 0.10.

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