zinc-methionine and Weight-Gain

The effects of zinc-methionine (Zn-Met) supplementation on growth, blood metabolites and gastrointestinal development were investigated in two experiments with sheep. The objective of Experiment 1 was to determine the effects of Zn-Met supplementation on hormones and metabolites involved in growth and energy balance regulation, while Experiment 2 aimed to determine the effects of Zn-Met on feed intake, body weight, gastrointestinal development and liver glycogen concentration in lamb. The animals were assigned to groups with different concentrations of dietary Zn-Met (0, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.2 g/day) in both experiments. In Experiment 1, feeding different doses of Zn-Met increased plasma insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) concentration, but it linearly decreased plasma growth hormone (GH). No differences were observed in blood cortisol, insulin and glucose concentrations among the treatments. In Experiment 2, addition of Zn-Met to the diets did not lead to changes in the body weights of the lambs. Both average daily gain and dry matter intake (DMI) increased linearly with increasing concentrations of dietary Zn-Met. Lambs receiving Zn-Met showed higher liver glycogen concentrations than the control. While significant increases were observed in the villus height and crypt depth in the duodenum and jejunum as a result of Zn-Met supplementation, no change was detected in blood glucose concentrations (p > 0.05). Our findings suggest that dietary Zn-Met may improve growth, energy balance and gastrointestinal development in sheep.

Topics: Animal Feed; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animals; Diet; Dietary Supplements; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Female; Gastrointestinal Tract; Methionine; Organometallic Compounds; Sheep; Weight Gain

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary Zn and Fe supplementation on mineral excretion, body composition, and mineral status of nursery pigs. In Exp. 1 (n = 24; 6.5 kg; 16 to 20 d of age) and 2 (n = 24; 7.2 kg; 19 to 21 d of age), littermate crossbred barrows were weaned and allotted randomly by BW, within litter, to dietary treatments and housed individually in stainless steel pens. In Exp. 1, Phases 1 (d 0 to 7) and 2 (d 7 to 14) diets (as-fed basis) were: 1) NC (negative control, no added Zn source); 2) ZnO (NC + 2,000 mg/kg as Zn oxide); and 3) ZnM (NC + 2,000 mg/kg as Zn Met). In Exp. 2, diets for each phase (Phase 1 = d 0 to 7; Phase 2 = d 7 to 21; Phase 3 = d 21 to 35) were the basal diet supplemented with 0, 25, 50, 100, and 150 mg/kg Fe (as-fed basis) as ferrous sulfate. Orts, feces, and urine were collected daily in Exp. 1; whereas pigs had a 4-d adjustment period followed by a 3-d total collection period (Period 1 = d 5 to 7; Period 2 = d 12 to 14; Period 3 = d 26 to 28) during each phase in Exp. 2. Blood samples were obtained from pigs on d 0, 7, and 14 in Exp. 1 and d 0, 7, 21, and 35 in Exp. 2 to determine hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), and plasma Cu, (PCu), Fe (PFe), and Zn (PZn). Pigs in Exp. 1 were killed at d 14 (mean BW = 8.7 kg) to determine whole-body, liver, and kidney mineral concentrations. There were no differences in growth performance in Exp. 1 or 2. In Exp. 1, pigs fed ZnO or ZnM diets had greater (P < 0.001) dietary Zn intake during the 14-d study and greater fecal Zn excretion during Phase 2 compared with pigs fed the NC diet. Pigs fed 2,000 mg/kg, regardless of Zn source, had greater (P < 0.010) PZn on d 7 and 14 than pigs fed the NC diet. Whole-body Zn, liver Fe and Zn, and kidney Cu concentrations were greater (P < 0.010), whereas kidney Fe and Zn concentrations were less (P < 0.010) in pigs fed pharmacological Zn diets than pigs fed the NC diet. In Exp. 2, dietary Fe supplementation tended to increase (linear, P = 0.075) dietary DMI, resulting in a linear increase (P < 0.050) in dietary Fe, Cu, Mg, Mn, P, and Zn intake. Subsequently, a linear increase (P < 0.010) in fecal Fe and Zn excretion was observed. Increasing dietary Fe resulted in a linear increase in Hb, Hct, and PFe on d 21 (P < 0.050) and 35 (P < 0.010). Results suggest that dietary Zn or Fe additions increase mineral status of nursery pigs. Once tissue mineral stores are loaded, dietary minerals in excess of the body's requirement

Topics: Animal Feed; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animals; Body Composition; Dietary Supplements; Ferrous Compounds; Male; Methionine; Minerals; Organometallic Compounds; Swine; Weight Gain; Zinc Oxide

1. The current experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of zinc sulphate (ZnSO4) and zinc methionine (Zn-Met) on growth and their effect on plasma growth hormone (GH) concentration, growth hormone receptor (GHR) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) mRNA expression in mice. 2. Ninety male KunMing (KM) mice were randomly divided into three treatments. The control group was fed on a basal diet containing 11.67 mg/kg of zinc. The ZnSO4 group and Zn-Met group were fed on the diets supplemented with ZnSO4 or Zn-Met at 30 mg/kg (containing zinc of 40.05 and 40.75 mg/kg, respectively). The mice were offered the test diets for 10 days. Weight gains and food intake were measured at the end of the experiment, zinc contents in liver and serum were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry; GH was determined by radioimmunoassay, the levels of GHR and IGF-I mRNA were determined with reverse transcript polymerase chain reaction. 3. Both ZnSO4 and Zn-Met enhanced weight gain and food intake in the mice, Zn-Met improved the growth and food intake more effectively than ZnSO4 did (P < 0.05). The both forms of zinc had no effect on GH and the level of GHR mRNA expression (P > 0.05) and they up-regulated the expression of IGF-I mRNA (P < 0.05). As compared to ZnSO4, Zn-Met enhanced the level of IGF-I mRNA significantly (P < 0.05). 4. Both ZnSO4 and Zn-Met had no effect on plasma GH and the expression of GHR mRNA, but they enhanced the expression of IGF-I mRNA. Zinc methionine enhanced the weight gain and up-regulated IGF-I mRNA expression more effectively than ZnSO4.

Topics: Alkaline Phosphatase; Animals; Body Weight; Eating; Gene Expression; Growth Hormone; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; Liver; Male; Methionine; Mice; Organometallic Compounds; Receptors, Somatotropin; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Messenger; Trace Elements; Up-Regulation; Weight Gain; Zinc; Zinc Sulfate

The influence of diets containing Zn-Met on in vitro and in vivo uptake of Escherichia coli by the mononuclear-phagocytic system was evaluated. Female Nicholas turkeys reared in battery brooders were supplemented with 40 micrograms Zn/g as Zn-Met in a corn soybean meal diet from 1 to 3 wk of age. Chemical analysis of the basal diets indicated that the basal diets contained 130 micrograms Zn/g and the Zn-Met diets contained 165 micrograms Zn/g. Each diet was fed to three replicate pens of 8 birds in Experiment 1 and three pens of 16 birds in Experiment 2. Body weight gain, feed conversion (FC), and clearance of injected E. coli from blood were determined in Experiments 1 and 2. Abdominal exudate cells (AEC) were recruited by intra-abdominal Sephadex injection. Substrate adherence potential and incidence of macrophages in AEC, phagocytosis of E. coli in vitro in terms of percentage phagocytic macrophages, and number of internalized E. coli per phagocytic macrophage, were quantified in Experiment 1. Plasma Zn concentrations and plasma alkaline phosphatase activity (ALKP) were determined in Experiment 2. Supplemental Zn-Met improved 3-wk BW gain (P < or = .003) only in Experiment 2. Dietary Zn-Met increased mean adherence of cells by 69% (P < or = .001). The number of phagocytized E. coli per macrophage did not differ significantly between treatments; however, E. coli clearance from blood was significantly improved in poults receiving Zn-Met in Experiment 2. Plasma Zn was higher in poults supplemented with Zn-Met prior to and after E. coli administration (P < or = .02).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: Alkaline Phosphatase; Animals; Escherichia coli Infections; Female; Food, Fortified; Macrophages; Methionine; Organometallic Compounds; Phagocytosis; Poultry Diseases; Random Allocation; Turkeys; Weight Gain; Zinc

The bioavailability of zinc-methionine (ZnMET) was compared to that of feed-grade ZnSO4.H2O using three different diets: purified (crystalline amino acid [AA]), semipurified (soy isolate), and complex (corn-soybean [C-SBM]) diet. With the Zn-deficient purified or semipurified diet, weight gain and tibia Zn responded linearly to both ZnSO4.H2O and ZnMET supplementation. Common-intercept, multiple linear regression indicated differences in Zn bioavailability between ZnMET and ZnSO4.H2O for both diets as indicated by bone Zn. With the ZnSO4.H2O standard set at 100%, bioavailability of Zn from ZnMET was 117% (P less than .05) in the AA diet and 177% (P less than .01) in the soy isolate diet. The ZnMET was also compared to ZnSO4.H2O in a C-SBM diet containing 117 mg of Zn/kg. When high levels of Zn were added to this diet (0, 250, 500, and 750 mg/kg of supplemental Zn), consistent tissue Zn responses did not occur beyond the first increment. Addition of lower levels of supplemental Zn (0, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mg/kg) to a Zn-unsupplemented C-SBM basal diet (45 mg/kg of Zn), however, resulted in a broken-line, two-slope response in tibia Zn for both ZnMET and ZnSO4.H2O. Inflection points occurred at 60 and 54 mg of Zn/kg of diet for ZnSO4.H2O and ZnMET, respectively. The ratio of slopes (ZnMET:ZnSO4.H2O) below the inflection points was 206% (P less than .01), indicating that Zn was considerably more bioavailable in ZnMET than in ZnSO4.H2O for chicks consuming C-SBM diets. When feed-grade ZnO was compared to feed-grade ZnSO4.H2O in chicks consuming C-SBM diets, bone Zn slopes below the respective inflection points indicated that Zn was 61% bioavailable in ZnO relative to ZnSO4.H2O.

Topics: Animal Feed; Animals; Biological Availability; Chickens; Food, Fortified; Male; Methionine; Organometallic Compounds; Regression Analysis; Sulfates; Tibia; Weight Gain; Zinc; Zinc Oxide; Zinc Sulfate

Ninety steers with an average weight of 214 kg were purchased at 2 feeder calf sales and transported 70 to 100 km. On arrival at the feedlot, steers were weighed and identified, blood was withdrawn, and the steers were vaccinated against bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1) and parainfluenza3 (PI3), using a modified live vaccine, and randomly assigned to treatment groups. Treatments were: control (no supplemental zinc; zinc methionine; and zinc oxide. The control diet contained 26 mg of zinc/kg diet, and zinc was added in treatments 2 and 3 to provide 25 mg of supplemental zinc/kg diet. Neutralizing antibody titers were determined on serum samples taken on days 0 and 14 as a measure of the immune response to BHV-1 and PI3 vaccination. Weight gains for the 28-day study were similar across treatments. Dry matter intake tended to be higher in steers fed supplemental zinc from either source, because steers fed zinc methionine and zinc oxide consumed 5.2 and 4.4% more feed, respectively, than controls. Antibody titers against BHV-1 tended to be higher in steers supplemented with zinc methionine on day 14. Differences between treatments were not found for PI3 titers. Mortalities did not occur and morbidity rate was low.

Topics: Animals; Antibodies, Viral; Cattle; Cattle Diseases; Eating; Herpesvirus 1, Bovine; Male; Methionine; Organometallic Compounds; Parainfluenza Virus 3, Human; Random Allocation; Stress, Physiological; Viral Vaccines; Weight Gain; Zinc; Zinc Oxide