Guanidinoacetic acid as a feed supplement for poultry

SUMMARY

Guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) is immediate substrate for biosynthesis of creatine (CREA). The phosphorylated form of CREA serves as a rapidly mobilisable reserve of high-energy phosphates in skeletal muscle to recycle adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and replenish cellular energy levels. Aside from improving energy utilisation, GAA possesses several features which further enhance its value as a feed additive for poultry. The feed supplement has good thermal stability, which allows it to be safely used in pelleted diets. GAA has high bioavailability, is cost-effective, and spares dietary arginine (ARG) and energy. Its digestion and absorption is similar to other amino acids, although there are some interactions. Supplementation with 0.6–1.2 g/kg can increase muscle CREA by 14–21%, respectively. Levels of utilisation (retained in the body vs. intake) of between 76.2% and 100% have been reported in arginine deficient diets, while this declines with higher arginine supplementation. Meta-analysis has shown that GAA supplementation improved FCR in a dose dependent and rather linear manner. Linear regression of the FCR data for GAA doses between 0.6 and 1.2 g/kg suggested 4.5 and 8.8 points improvement, respectively. The efficacious ARG sparing activity of GAA is an important feature, since birds are not able to synthesise ARG and are exclusively dependent on dietary sources of this amino acid. GAA has several other proven benefits, including improving fertility and semen quality, stimulating muscle growth through cell-signalling processes, and ameliorating bone growth and development. Optimal inclusion levels of 1.4 g/kg GAA have been reported for supporting fertility in birds.

KEYWORDS:

• Guanidinoacetic acid
• broiler
• arginine
• energy
• creatine
• nutrition

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully appreciate Dr Robert F Wideman from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA for editing the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

F. Khajali

Professor F. Khajali (1971) received his PhD in poultry science in 2001 from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, in collaboration with the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. He joined Shahrekord University, Iran, as assistant professor in 2002 and ranked to the professor position in 2011. His key areas of research and teaching are precise nutrition, environmentally friendly feeding strategies, studying metabolic disorders in broiler chickens and preventive nutrition through fine-tuning diets and using proper feed supplements. He has actively collaborated with Dr Robert F. Wideman from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA, Bogdan A. Slominski from the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, and Graham R. Scott from McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.

A. Lemme

Dr. A. Lemme received his Diploma degree in agricultural science from George August University of Goettingen, Germany, in 1995 and completed his PhD in animal nutrition in 1999 at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. He joined Degussa-Huels in 2000 and filled a poultry nutritionist position until 2008. From 2008 to 2013, he was the director of animal nutrition at Evonik Nutrition and Care GmbH being responsible for the animal nutrition research programme of the company including poultry, swine, and aquaculture. He held a position as the regional technical director for Europe at Evonik Nutrition & Care GmbH from 2013 until 2016. From 2017 until present, his position of director for technical consultancy at Evonik deals with translation of scientific knowledge into practical application. He has conducted active collaborations with research scientists around the world, which resulted in numerous peer-reviewed papers and conference contributions.

M. Rademacher-Heilshorn

Dr. M. Rademacher-Heilshorn received her M.Sc. in Agricultural Science from the University of Kiel (Germany) in 1992. She carried out her research studies towards her Ph.D. at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta (Canada) under supervision of Dr. W.C. Sauer. The nature of her studies pertained to the development of rapid methods for feed evaluation and studies relating to digestive physiology and nutrition of the pig. Following graduation in 1995, Mrs. Rademacher joined Degussa (Evonik today), where she was Research and Development Manager for swine nutrition. Throughout the past 25 years, she hold several positions in research, marketing, sales and innovation management within Evonik. She is involved in research collaborations worldwide, which resulted in numerous scientific publications. She is co-inventor of a patent directed to a “Method for the determination of processing influences on the nutritional value of feedstuff raw materials” (granted as EP 3361248 B1), of a patent directed to the “Use of guanidinoacetic acid and/or creatine for increasing the hatch rate” (granted as EA 033808) and further of a patent application directed to the “Use of guanidinoacetic acid and/or creatine in aquaculture” (published as WO 2019/185408). Currently, she is Director Global Technical Sales Support at Evonik Nutrition & Care GmbH and based in Hanau, Germany.