Performance, antioxidant status, nutrient retention and serum profile responses of laying Japanese quails to increasing addition levels of dietary guanidinoacetic acid

Figures & data

Table 1. Composition and nutrient levels of the experimental diets.

Item, g/kg^a (unless indicated)	Guanidinoacetic acid level, g/kg
	0	0.6	1.2	1.8
Ingredients
Corn	550.70	550.50	550.30	550.10
Soybean meal (440 g/kg CP)	325.10	324.70	324.30	323.90
Calcium carbonate	55.80	55.80	55.80	55.80
Soybean oil	28.50	28.50	28.50	28.50
Corn gluten meal	18.60	18.60	18.60	18.60
Dicalcium phosphate	12.00	12.00	12.00	12.00
Vitamin and mineral premix*	5.00	5.00	5.00	5.00
Common salt	3.40	3.40	3.40	3.40
dl-Methionine	0.90	0.90	0.90	0.90
Guanidinoacetic acid	0	0.60	1.20	1.80
Calculated composition**
Metabolisable energy, MJ/kg	12.14	12.14	12.14	12.14
Crude protein	201.50	202.70	203.80	204.90
Calcium	25.00	25.00	25.00	25.00
Available phosphorus	3.50	3.50	3.50	3.50
Sodium	1.50	1.50	1.50	1.50
Chlorine	2.80	2.80	2.80	2.80
Lysine	10.20	10.20	10.20	10.20
Methionine + cysteine	7.50	7.50	7.50	7.50
Threonine	7.50	7.50	7.50	7.50
Arginine	12.60	12.60	12.60	12.60
Valine	9.40	9.40	9.40	9.40
Isoleucine	8.40	8.40	8.40	8.40
Leucine	18.30	18.30	18.30	18.30
Analysed composition
Dry matter	895.40	897.60	895.60	896.90
Crude protein	201.60	203.00	204.30	205.50
Ash	99.00	100.00	98.00	99.00

CP: Crude protein.

* Provides per kilogram of diet: vitamin A, 9,000 U; vitamin D₃, 2,000 U; vitamin E, 25 U; vitamin K₃, 2 mg; thiamine, 2 mg; riboflavin, 6.6; niacin, 18 mg; pantothenic acid, 30.25 mg; vitamin B₆, 3.1 mg; folic acid, 1.1 mg; vitamin B₁₂, 0.015 mg; biotin, 0.1 mg; ethoxyquin, 1.0 mg; choline chloride, 500 mg; Mn (from MnSO₄·H₂O), 99 mg; Zn (from ZnSO₄·7H₂O), 85 mg; Fe (from FeSO₄·7H₂O), 50 mg; Cu (from CuSO₄·5H₂O), 10 mg; I [from Ca(IO₃)2·H₂O], 1.99 mg; Se, [from Na₂SeO₃(H2O)₅] 0.20 mg.

** The chemical composition of experimental diets were calculated based on NIR analysis of vegetable ingredients (corn, corn gluten meal and soybean meal) and NRC (1994) feed ingredient database.

^a For analysed composition, g/kg dry matter and for rest parts, g/kg as fed.

Table 2. Effects of dietary guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) supplementation on productive traits and relative abdominal fat weight in Japanese laying quails.

Items	GAA, g/kg of diet				SEM	p Value
	0	0. 6	1.2	1.8		Model	Linear	Quadratic
Hen day production, %	82.000^b	86.400^b	89.800^a	91.900^a	0.866	.010	.010	.170
Egg weight, g	11.900^c	12.300^b	12.900^a	12.200^b	0.087	.010	.010	.010
Egg mass, g/bird/day	9.800^d	10.600^c	11.600^a	11.200^b	0.148	.010	.010	.010
Feed consumption, g/bird/day	32.400^b	33.000^a	33.300^a	33.200^a	0.089	.010	.010	.010
Feed conversion efficiency, g egg/g feed	0.300^d	0.320^c	0.350^a	0.340^b	0.004	.010	.010	.010
Initial body weight, g	287.500	285.400	290.800	286.500	1.040	.450	.780	.590
Final body weight, g	301.100^a	286.300^b	289.500^b	286.100^b	2.100	.010	.020	.120
Body weight change, g	13.660^a	−0.910^b	−0.360^b	−1.330^b	2.030	.100	.010	.580
Abdominal fat, g/100 g body weight	4.940^b	5.130^b	5.130^b	6.000^a	0.362	.010	.010	.010

SEM: standard errors of means.

^a-dMeans within a raw with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05), Tukey’s studentized-range tests were applied to compare means.

Table 3. Effects of dietary guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) supplementation on egg quality traits in Japanese laying quails.

Items	GAA, g/kg of diet				SEM	p Value
	0	0.6	1.2	1.8		Model	Linear	Quadratic
Eggshell thickness, mm	0.24	0.25	0.23	0.24	0.003	.27	.30	.79
Shell, g/100 g egg weight	8.77^a	8.67^a	8.44^b	8.39^b	0.041	.01	.01	.04
Yolk, g/100 g egg weight	30.93^d	32.00^b	33.11^a	31.85^c	0.162	.01	.01	.01
Albumen, g/100 g egg weight	58.62^a	58.06^b	57.66^c	58.46^a	0.095	.01	.08	.01
Haugh unit	83.86	83.42	83.52	83.55	0.182	.51	.61	.54
Shape index	76.13	79.78	76.72	76.81	0.681	.46	.87	.19

SEM: standard errors of means.

^a-dMeans within a raw with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05), Tukey’s studentized-range tests were applied to compare means.

Table 4. Effects of dietary guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) supplementation on morphological traits of the ileum and ileal digestibility of nutrients in Japanese laying quails.

Items	GAA, g/kg of diet				SEM	p Value
	0	0.6	1.2	1.8		Model	Linear	Quadratic
Morphology
Mucosa thickness, µm	242.60^a	230.20^ab	205.00^b	230.10^ab	7.93	.01	.43	.18
Villus height, µm	168.20^c	187.90^b	192.60^a	191.20^a	2.10	.01	.01	.01
Crypt depth, µm	35.80^a	31.80^b	30.40^b	34.90^a	0.58	.01	.24	.01
Villus/crypt ratio	4.72^c	5.92^ab	6.39^a	5.47^b	0.15	.01	.01	.01
Digestibility
Dry matter, %	63.40^b	69.40^a	69.10^a	68.50^a	0.54	.01	.01	.01
Crude protein, %	57.30^b	62.60^a	63.50^a	62.10^a	0.57	.01	.01	.01
Ether extract, %	57.70^b	63.00^a	62.70^a	62.40^a	0.49	.01	.01	.01
Ash, %	62.80^b	65.10^a	64.80^a	64.60^a	0.23	.01	.02	.01

SEM: standard errors of means.

^a-cMeans within a raw with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05), Tukey’s studentized-range tests were applied to compare means.

Table 5. Effects of dietary guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) supplementation on antioxidant characteristics of serum and liver in Japanese laying quails.

Items	GAA, g/kg of diet				SEM	p Value
	0	0.6	1.2	1.8		Model	Linear	Quadratic
Serum
Superoxide dismutase, U/mL	2.15^d	3.40^b	4.12^a	2.60^c	0.16	.01	.01	.01
Glutathione peroxidase, U/mL	1.70^d	1.96^c	2.85^a	2.35^b	0.09	.01	.01	.01
Total antioxidant capacity, mmol/L	31.20^c	36.28^b	41.73^a	25.90^d	1.29	.01	.01	.01
MDA, nmol/L	5.44^a	4.36^c	3.14^d	4.88^b	0.18	.01	.01	.01
Liver
Superoxide dismutase, U/g protein	9.49^d	14.23^a	12.14^b	11.70^c	0.35	.01	.01	.01
Glutathione peroxidase, U/g protein	4.23^c	4.89^b	5.30^a	3.93^d	0.12	.01	.01	.01
MDA, nmol/g protein	13.29^a	7.58^d	10.15^c	11.58^b	0.46	.01	.01	.01

MDA: malondialdehyde; SEM: standard errors of means.

^a-dMeans within a raw with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05), Tukey’s studentized-range tests were applied to compare means.

Table 6. Effects of dietary guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) supplementation on serum and liver metabolite characteristics in Japanese laying quails.

Items	GAA, g/kg of diet				SEM	p Value
	0	0.6	1.2	1.8		Model	Linear	Quadratic
Serum
Creatine, mg/dL	37.67^d	41.73^c	48.65^b	52.90^a	1.28	.01	.01	.91
Creatinine, mg/dL	29.40^d	32.51^c	37.36^b	44.87^a	1.24	.01	.01	.01
Nitric oxide, mm/l	4.40^c	4.84^b	5.28^a	5.55^a	0.10	.01	.01	.41
Hemocysteine, mm/L	23.52^d	27.07^c	36.00^b	39.24^a	1.36	.01	.01	.79
Triglycerides, mg/dL	53.93^ab	48.70^a	40.20^bc	34.93^c	2.20	.01	.01	.02
Total cholesterol, mg/dL	127.58^c	146.91^b	174.83^a	105.83^d	5.55	.01	.03	.01
HDL^1 cholesterol, mg/dL	52.24	66.43	55.78	63.82	5.92	.23	.67	.81
LDL^2 cholesterol, mg/dL	72.15^a	66.30^b	50.66^d	56.20^c	1.88	.01	.01	.01
VLDL^3 cholesterol, mg/dL	16.72^c	18.59^b	21.15^a	15.13^d	0.51	.01	.27	.01
Total protein, g/dL	3.78^b	3.91^ab	4.33^a	4.21^a	0.06	.01	.01	.09
Liver
Total Lipid, mg/g fresh weight	5.73^a	5.36^b	4.97^c	5.94^a	0.09	.01	.59	.01
Total protein, mg/g fresh weight	257.00^d	285.29^a	273.82^b	265.68^c	0.24	.01	.14	.01
Betaine, µm/g fresh weight	3.18^c	4.01^b	4.55^a	2.87^d	0.15	.01	.40	.01

HDL: high density lipoproteins; LDL: low density lipoproteins; VLDL: very low density lipoproteins; SEM: standard errors of means.

^a-dMeans within a raw with different superscripts are significantly different (p < .05), Tukey’s studentized-range tests were applied to compare means.

NRC. 1994. Nutrient requirement of poultry. 9th ed. Washington (DC): National Academy of Science.

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