Arginine supplementation improves reproductive performance, antioxidant status, immunity and maternal antibody transmission in breeder Japanese quail under heat stress conditions

Figures & data

Table 1. Ingredients and chemical composition of the basal diet fed to breeder quails.

Ingredient	g/100 g (as fed basis)
Corn	55.27
Soybean meal	32.50
Gluten meal	1.61
Vegetable oil	2.99
Carbonate calcium	5.64
Dicalcium phosphate	1.14
Common salt	0.34
Mineral premix^a	0.25
Vitamin premix^b	0.25
Calculated analysis
ME^c, Kcal/Kg	2900.00
Crude protein, %	20.00
Calcium, %	2.50
Available Phosphorus, %	0.35
Sodium, %	0.15
Arginine, %	1.26
Lysine, %	1.01
Arginine:lysine ratios	1.24
Methionine + Cysteine, %	0.70

^aMixture supplied per kg of diet: retinyl acetate, 1.8 mg; cholecalciferol, 0.025 mg; dl-tocopheryl acetate, 1.25 mg; menadione sodium bisulphite, 2.5 mg; thiamine-hydrochloride, 1.5 mg; riboflavin, 3 mg; D-pantothenic acid, 5 mg; pyridoxine hydrochloride, 2.5 mg; vitamin B₁₂, 0.0075 mg; folic acid, 0.25 mg; niacin, 12.5 mg.

^bMixture supplied per kg of diet: Mn (MnSO₄·H₂O), 50 mg; Fe (FeSO₄·7H₂O), 30 mg; Zn (ZnO), 30 mg; Cu (CuSO₄ 5H₂O), 5 mg; I (KI), 0.5 mg; Se (Na₂SeO₃), 0.15 mg; Co (CoCl₂·6H₂O), 0.1 mg; choline chloride, 125 mg.

^cME: Metabolisable energy.

Table 2. Effect of arginine supplementation on productive performance, egg quality and reproductive performance in breeder quails.

Parameter	Thermoneutral	Heat stress				SEM^2	p-Value
		Basal diet	1.15 Arg^1	1.3 Arg	1.45 Arg		ANOVA	Linear	Quadratic
Productive performance
Egg weight, g	11.64^c	11.45^c	12.47^ab	12.56^a	11.95^bc	0.022	<.0001	.1073	<.0001
Egg production, %	77.22^b	71.94^c	82.16^a	81.00^a	76.50^b	0.503	<.0001	.0160	<.0001
Daily feed intake, g	25.80^b	23.37^c	25.21^b	25.82^a	23.86^c	0.107	<.0001	.0291	<.0001
FCR	3.61^a	3.70^a	3.24^c	3.33^bc	3.45^b	0.041	<.0001	.0155	<.0001
Egg quality
Yolk, %	31.73	30.55	31.91	31.81	31.99	0.343	.0683	.0224	.4606
Albumen, %	56.98	58.32	58.43	58.52	58.23	0.452	.0814	.0248	.3926
Eggshell thickness, mm	0.170	0.166	0.172	0.170	0.171	0.001	.4884	<.0001	<.0001
Haugh unit	85.32^a	81.52^b	85.44^a	85.23^a	85.42^a	0.206	<.0001	.0192	.5762
Reproductive parameters
Fertility, %	90.22^a	80.74^b	89.65^a	90.91^a	87.33^a	1.005	.0199	.0860	.0144
Hatchability, %	75.59^a	65.47^b	77.14^a	75.50^a	74.69^a	1.137	.0211	.0004	.0684
Embryonic mortality, %
Early dead	2.09	7.14	6.94	4.08	4.89	0.658	.2850
Middle dead	8.93	8.93	7.34	7.75	6.94	0.783	.9119	.1818	.7445
Late dead	12.50	18.40	11.40	12.65	11.00	0.943	.1381	.1602	.4518
Total dead	24.40^b	34.50^a	22.80^b	24.49^b	25.70^b	1.142	.0227	.0454	.2525

¹ Arginine. ²SEM: Standard error of means. ^a–cMeans within rows with different superscripts are significantly different (p < .05).

Table 3. Effect of arginine supplementation on maternal and offspring IgG and egg yolk IgY, humoral (log₂) and cell immune response in breeder quails.

Parameter	Thermoneutral	Heat stress				SEM^4	p-Value
		Basal diet	1.15 Arg^1	1.3 Arg	1.45 Arg		ANOVA	Linear	Quadratic
Maternal and offspring serum IgG and egg yolk IgY
Maternal plasma IgG, mg/mL	11.80^bc	10.43^c	14.2^a	13.10^ab	12.20^bc	0.39	.0065	.0007	.5119
Egg Yolk IgY, mg/mL	5.76^ab	4.36^b	7.56^a	6.70^a	5.88^ab	0.36	.0385	.0010	.6182
Offspring Serum IgG, mg/ml	3.80^a	2.43^b	5.16^a	4.39^a	4.00^a	0.23	.0413	.0044	.2754
IgG transfer, %^2	32.20	23.29	36.10	33.35	32.78
SRBC
Primary injection	2.66	1.66	2.80	2.80	3.00	0.186	.28	.0130	.1359
Secondary injection	5.00^a	3.00^b	5.20^a	5.40^a	5.40^a	0.262	.02	.0052	.0445
PHA^3, mm
Primary PHA response
12 h	0.173^a	0.110^b	0.183^a	0.200^a	0.208^a	0.008	<.0001	<.0001	.0002
24 h	0.166^a	0.103^b	0.172^a	0.188^a	0.216^a	0.010	.0040	<.0001	.1762
36 h	0.159^a	0.096^b	0.172^a	0.181^a	0.188^a	0.007	.0003	<.0001	<.0001
Secondary PHA response
12 h	0.191^a	0.120^b	0.212^a	0.220^a	0.228^a	0.012	.047	.0041	.0553
24 h	0.187^a	0.116^b	0.185^a	0.205^a	0.217^a	0.010	.034	<.0001	.0227
36 h	0.168^a	0.097^b	0.182^a	0.180^a	0.210^a	0.011	.024	<.0001	.0508

¹Arginine. ²The percentage transfer of IgG from the dams’ plasma to the plasma of 1-day-old chicks was calculated by dividing the 1-day-old chicks’ plasma antibody levels by the dams’ plasma antibody levels and multiplying this value by 100. ³Phytohaemagglutinin. ⁴SEM: Standard error of means. ^a–bMeans within rows with different superscripts are significantly different (p < .05).

Table 4. Effect of arginine supplementation on antioxidant parameters and malondialdehyde in plasma and liver of breeder quails.

Parameter	Thermoneutral	Heat stress				SEM^7	p-Value
		Basal diet	1.15 Arg^1	1.30 Arg	1.45 Arg		ANOVA	Linear	Quadratic
Plasma
SOD^2, unit/mL	165^c	155^d	194^a	188^b	168^c	3.24	<.0001	<.0001	.0242
CAT^3, unit/mL	6.51^b	4.70^c	7.48^a	7.50^a	6.50^c	0.20	<.0001	<.0001	<.0001
GPx^4, unit/ml	188^d	175^c	230^a	220^b	195^c	4.54	<.0001	<.0001	.0041
MDA^5, nmol/mL	3.43^c	3.71^a	3.37^b	3.32^bc	3.24^c	0.03	<.0001	<.0001	.0017
TAC^6, nmol/mL	5.90^c	4.11^c	5.37^d	6.32^b	6.74^a	0.19	<.0001	<.0001	<.0001
Liver
SOD, nmol/mg protein	122^c	114^d	156^a	144^b	121^c	2.81	<.0001	<.0001	.3931
CAT, nmol/mg protein	22.32^bc	16.90^d	24.14^a	23.70^b	22.10^c	0.54	<.0001	<.0001	<.0001
GPx, nmol/mg protein	21.72^c	19.20^d	26.64^a	24.90^b	21.41^c	0.60	<.0001	<.0001	.7258
MDA(nmol/mg protein	0.98^d	1.47^a	1.34^c	1.40^b	1.45^b	0.03	<.0001	<.0001	.0826

¹ Arginine. ²Superoxide dismutase. ³Catalase. ⁴Glutathione peroxidase. ⁵Malondialdehyde. ⁶Total antioxidant capacity. ⁷SEM: Standard error of means. ^a–cMeans within rows with different superscripts are significantly different (p < .05).

Data availability statement

The original data of the paper are available upon request from the corresponding author.