• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.766-773
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• 2011

The objective of the present study was to examine whether yaks possess any adaptive mechanisms of nitrogen (N) metabolism to survive in the harsh foraging environment of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. A grazing experiment on native alpine meadows was conducted to determine availability of herbage biomass and body weight (BW) change of yaks over the year, followed by two indoor feeding trials to investigate adaptation mechanisms of N metabolism in yaks fed at similar intake level to grazing conditions. Three castrated males of each of three genotypes; yak (Bos grunniens), indigenous cattle (Bos taurus) and their crossbred - cattleyak (Bos taurus male${\times}$Bos grunniens female), were used in the housed trials. Results showed that: i) Monthly herbage biomass production and daily grazing intakes by yaks over the year ranged from 220 to 4,664 kg DM per ha, and 1.90 to 8.50 kg DM, respectively. For about seven months each year, yaks suffer from malnutrition as a result of inadequate pasture conditions; ii) Urinary N excretion and N retention by yaks were significantly affected by feeding level, and yaks had a lower (p<0.05) average daily urinary N excretion (0.39 g/kg $BW^{0.75}$) and a greater (p<0.05) N retention (-0.09 g/kg $BW^{0.75}$) than indigenous cattle (0.47 and -0.16 g/kg $BW^{0.75}$, respectively). Fasting daily urinary N excretion was greater (p<0.05) for indigenous cattle than yaks (353 vs. 248 mg/kg $BW^{0.75}$). Purine derivative N excretion and purine derivative N index (PNI) increased with increasing feeding level, while the value of PNI was greater (p<0.05) for yaks and cattleyak (0.11 and 0.12, respectively) than for indigenous cattle (0.09) during the feeding trials. These results suggest that yaks could rely, in part, on the recycling of N to adapt to the harsh forage environment on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.), were used in the housed trials. Results showed that: i) Monthly herbage biomass production and daily grazing intakes by yaks over the year ranged from 220 to 4,664 kg DM per ha, and 1.90 to 8.50 kg DM, respectively. For about seven months each year, yaks suffer from malnutrition as a result of inadequate pasture conditions; ii) Urinary N excretion and N retention by yaks were significantly affected by feeding level, and yaks had a lower (p<0.05) average daily urinary N excretion (0.39 g/kg $BW^{0.75}$) and a greater (p<0.05) N retention (-0.09 g/kg $BW^{0.75}$) than indigenous cattle (0.47 and -0.16 g/kg $BW^{0.75}$, respectively). Fasting daily urinary N excretion was greater (p<0.05) for indigenous cattle than yaks (353 vs. 248 mg/kg $BW^{0.75}$). Purine derivative N excretion and purine derivative N index (PNI) increased with increasing feeding level, while the value of PNI was greater (p<0.05) for yaks and cattleyak (0.11 and 0.12, respectively) than for indigenous cattle (0.09) during the feeding trials. These results suggest that yaks could rely, in part, on the recycling of N to adapt to the harsh forage environment on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.61-69
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• 2001

A total of 120 pigs were used to investigate the effects of yucca extracts on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility and excretion of growing pigs fed different levels of dietary protein. Pigs were allotted into $2{\times}3$ factorial design by the supplementation with yucca extract (YE, 0 and 120 mg/kg) and 3 levels of dietary protein (16, 18, 20%). During the whole experimental period (18 to 52 kg body weight), there were no significant differences in ADG, ADFI or F/G by YE addition or different protein levels among treatments (p>0.05). Overall, although addition of YE to the diet and elevation of protein level showed better ADG, there were no significant differences in growth performance among treatments. Pigs fed diets with YE showed significantly (p<0.05) higher dry matter (DM), crude ash (CA) and crude protein (CP) digestibility than did the others during the growing period. Concerning the levels of dietary protein, only the CP digestibility was significantly higher in pigs fed high protein diet. Pig fed the low protein diet without YE showed a significantly low CP digestibility (p<0.05). No significant differences were found in crude fat (CF), calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) digestibilities regardless of YE supplementation or dietary protein levels. Pigs fed YE supplemented diets showed significantly (p<0.05) higher amino acid digestibility. Also, high CP level diets showed a higher amino acid digestibility than low CP diets (p<0.05). DM and N excretion did not show any significant differences among treatments, there was a slightly lower excretion with increase in dietary protein level. Supplementation with YE significantly decreased the DM and N excretion. Interaction (YE$\times$protein) was found in P excretion. Pigs fed a medium protein diet without YE showed the lowest P excretion during the growing period. The NH3-N content in the feces tended to be increased by the increased dietary protein levels and with YE supplementation. During the whole experimental period, the cost for YE supplementation was similar to value of the improvements of performance obtained. The cost of feeding high level protein was significantly higher than that of medium level protein by 10% and low level protein by 9% (p<0.05). It could be concluded that the effects of dietary protein level and yucca extract on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and excretion might play a role to some extent in growing pigs from the aspect of pollution control.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.1567-1574
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• 2007

A study was carried out to study the response of total purine derivatives (PD) excretion in urine to determine microbial N (MN) supply at four fixed levels of feed intake (namely 95, 80, 60 and 40% of voluntary intake). The crossbred (CB) calves were allocated according to a $4{\times}4$ Latin Square Design and fed wheat straw and concentrate (1:1). The rate of PD excretion (mmol/d) as a linear function of feed intake was 15.85/kg DMI and 20.12/kg DOMI. Based on the endogenous and PD excretion rates obtained in this study, a relationship between daily urinary PD excretion (Y, mmol) and daily microbial protein supply (X, mmol) was developed for crossbred calves as Y = 0.83X+0.296 kg $W^{0.75}$. The derived microbial N values using this equation differed (p<0.001) among the 4 groups and was the highest in L-95 followed by L-80, L-60 and L-40. The relationship between urinary nitrogen loss (Y, g/d) and DOMI (X, kg/d) was established as: Y = 6.038X+21.753 ($r^2$ = 0.663, p<0.01). When urinary excretion of PD (Y, mmol/d) was plotted against intake of DM and DOM (X, kg/d), the equations obtained were: Y = 7.1711X+8.674 ($r^2$ = 0.889, p<0.01) and Y = 12.434X+7.683 ($r^2$ = 0.896, p<0.01), respectively. The proportional contribution of allantoin and uric acid to total PD remained stable irrespective of level of feed intake. Similarly, urinary excretion of creatinine did not differ (p>0.05) between animals fed at different levels. The MN supply was the highest to animals at intake levels L-95, and decreased linearly with corresponding decrease in feed intake. However, the MN supply when expressed per kg DOMI remained statistically (p>0.05) similar irrespective of level of intake. The results revealed that the excretion of urinary purine derivatives were positively correlated with the level of feed intake as well as rumen microbial supply and thus it could be a good indicator for measuring the microbial protein supply and nutritional status of animals.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.43-48
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• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Physical exercise promotes energy producing pathways requiring thiamin and riboflavin as a coenzyme. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of regular exercise training on urinary excretion of thiamin and riboflavin. MATERIALS/METHODS: Fifty rats were randomly assigned to one of two groups: non-exercise training (NT, n = 25) and regular exercise training (ET, n = 25) for 5 weeks. The rats performed moderate exercise on a treadmill (0.5-0.8 km/hour) for 30 min/day, 5 days/week. Twenty-four hour urine samples were collected at the end of the 0 week, $3^{rd}$ week, and $5^{th}$ week of training and thiamin and riboflavin were analyzed. RESULTS: No significant differences in thiamin and riboflavin intakes for each week were observed between the NT and ET groups. Urinary thiamin excretion of each group was the highest at the $5^{th}$ week compared to the levels at 0 and $3^{rd}$ week. Urinary thiamin at the $5^{th}$ week was significantly lower in the ET group than in the NT group. Urinary riboflavin excretion was increased by training duration, however, no difference was observed between NT and ET for each week. At 0 and $3^{rd}$ week, no significant relationships were observed between dietary intake and urinary excretion of thiamin and riboflavin, however, at the $5^{th}$ week, urinary excretion was significantly increased by dietary intake only in the NT group (P < 0.05). Thiamin excretion of both NT and ET groups was significantly increased with riboflavin excretion at the $5^{th}$ week (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Regular moderate exercise training increased urinary excretion of thiamin. Dietary intakes and urinary excretions of thiamin and riboflavin showed positive correlation in both the exercise training and non-exercise training groups as the exercise training period went by, while the correlations in the exercise training group were weaker than those in the non-exercise training group. Therefore, regular exercise training can alter the urinary excretion of thiamin and riboflavin in rats.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.11
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• pp.1718-1726
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• 2023

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of supplementation with enzymolytic soybean meal (ESBM) on broilers fed low crude protein (CP) diets. Methods: A total of 360 one-day-old broilers were randomly assigned to six treatments with 6 replicates per treatment and 10 chicks per replicate for a period of 42 days. Chicks were fed a basal standard high-CP diet as a positive control (PC), a low-CP diet (reducing 10 g/kg CP from the PC) as a negative control (NC), or an NC + 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, or 2.0% ESBM diet. Results: Compared to chicks fed the PC, chicks fed the NC had a decreased body weight gain (BWG, p<0.05) from 1 to 42 days, but supplementation with 2.0% ESBM restored BWG (p<0.05) and even linearly improved the feed conversion rate (FCR, p<0.05). Digestibility of CP and ether extract was increased (p<0.05) in chicks fed a 1.0% ESBM diet compared to the PC. With increasing levels of ESBM, nitrogen (N) excretion decreased (p<0.05). The addition of ESBM to the diet did not affect (p>0.05) serum concentrations of total protein, albumin and total cholesterol but led to a descending trend in triglycerides and an ascending trend in calcium and urea N at 42 days (p<0.10). There were no differences (p>0.05) in villus height (VH), crypt depth (CD), and VH/CD (V/C) of the duodenum and jejunum between the PC and NC at both 21 days and 42 days, while increasing dietary ESBM levels linearly (p<0.05) decreased CD and increased V/C of the duodenum and jejunum at both 21 days and 42 days. Conclusion: The findings indicated that ESBM could be used in broiler low-CP diets to improve production performance, decrease N excretion, and enhance intestinal health.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1167-1173
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• 2009

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of providing fermented soy protein to weaned pigs on nitrogen balance and apparent fecal and apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of AA. Four weaned ((Yorkshire${\times}$Landrace)${\times}$Duroc) barrows (BW = 6.58${\pm}$0.98 kg), surgically fitted with a simple T-cannula approximately 15 cm prior to the ileo-cecal junction, were fed four diets according to 4${\times}$4 Latin square design. Diets were a basal diet supplemented with one of the following: 3% SDPP (spray dried plasma protein), 5% RBP (soy protein fermented by Lactobacillus spp.), 5% PSP (soy protein fermented by Aspergillus oryzae and Bacillus subtilis), and 2.5% RPP (2.5% RBP+2.5% PSP). No differences were observed in DM and N intakes among treatments. However, the level of urine excretion was greater in the RPP group than in the PSP group. Additionally, fecal DM excretion, fecal N concentration and fecal N excretion were increased in the RBP, PSP and RPP groups when compared with the SDPP group (p<0.05). Furthermore, total excretion was increased in the RPP group when compared with the PSP group (p<0.05). In addition, N absorption and the N absorption ratio were higher in the SDPP group than in the RPP group (p<0.05). Moreover, the DM and N digestibilities were lower in the RBP, PSP and RPP groups than in the SDPP group (p<0.05), and the ash and energy digestibilities were higher in the SDPP and RBP groups than in the PSP and RPP groups (p<0.05). However, no significant differences were observed in the DM, N, Ash, Ca, P or ileal digestibilities among treatments, although the energy digestibility was higher in the SDPP group than the RBP group (p<0.05). In addition, the apparent ileal digestibilities of essential amino acids (Arg, His, Iso, Leu, Lys, Phe, Thr, and Val) were significantly higher in the SDPP group than in the other groups (p<0.05), and the levels of Ala, Cys, Glu and Try were greater in the SDPP treatment group than the RBP, PSP and RPP groups (p<0.05). Additionally, the levels of Asp, Gly and Ser were higher in the SDPP group than the PSP and RPP groups, and the level of Pro was higher in the SDPP group than the RPP group (p<0.05). Finally, total non-essential amino acid and total amino acid digestibility were higher in the SDPP group than in the other treatments (p<0.05). Taken together, the results of this study indicate that animal protein is more bioavailable than plant protein. However, the N absorption ratio and ileal digestibility were found to be similar in the SDPP and RBP groups.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.347-355
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• 2006

A study was conducted to predict the rumen microbial protein production based on urinary excretion of purine derivatives in buffaloes fed a diet of wheat straw and concentrate (40:60) at four fixed levels of feed intake. (95, 80, 60 and 40% of preliminary voluntary feed intake) following experimental protocol of IAEA (Phase I). The buffaloes were allocated according to a $4{\times}4$ latin square design. The urinary allantoin, uric acid, total PD excretion (mmol/d) in treatments L-95, L-80, L-60 and L-40 was 20.13, 16.00, 12.96 and 9.17; 1.88, 2.12, 2.11 and 2.15; 22.01, 18.12, 15.07 and 11.32, respectively and were significantly (p<0.05) different among treatments except for uric acid. The rate of PD excretion (mmol/d) was positively correlated with the digestible organic matter intake. Variations were observed in PD and creatinine concentration in spot samples collected at 6-hour interval. However, daily PD:Creatinine ratio (PDC index) appears to be a reasonably good predictor of microbial-N supply. The contribution of basal purine excretion to total excretion of purine derivatives (PD) was determined in pre-fasting period followed by a fasting period of 6 d (Phase II). Daily PD and creatinine excretion (mmol/kg $W^{0.75}$) during fasting averaged 0.117 and 0.456 respectively for buffaloes. The excretion rates of PD decreased significantly (p<0.01) during fasting compare to pre-fasting period, the urinary creatinine excretion remained almost similar. Except for creatinine, plasma concentration of target parameters significantly (p<0.01) declined during fasting. Likewise, glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and renal clearance of allantoin and uric acid also decreased. Based on the PD excretion rates during fasting and at different levels of feed intake obtained in this study, a relationship between daily urinary PD excretion (Y-mmol) and microbial purine absorption (X-mmol) was developed for buffaloes as Y = 0.74X+0.117 kg $W^{0.75}$. The microbial N supply (g/kg DOMI) remained statistically similar irrespective of dietary treatment. The results showed that excretion of urinary purine derivatives is positively correlated with the levels of feed intake in Murrah buffaloes and thus, estimation of urinary purine derivatives and PDC index could be used to determine microbial nitrogen supply when there is large variation in level of feed intake.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.1221-1227
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• 2001

Young lambs (Suffolk wethers, n=18), which were 22 to 26 kg average BW, were chronically exposed to temperatures of +1 to +$4^{\circ}C$ (cold) or +21 to +$24^{\circ}C$ (warm) during 10 wk experimental periods. The sheep were closely shorn and were housed in individual metabolism crates in controlled environment rooms. Sheep consumed pelleted diets ad libitum, which consisted of mainly barley grain and brome grass, and contained 7, 11, or 14% CP. The experimental design consisted of a $2{\times}3$ factorial with a single crossover of environment treatment. Feed intake, BW, feces, and urine excretion were measured. Apparent digestibilities were not affected by diet CP concentration or temperature treatments; however, voluntary intake per kg BW was increased (p<0.05) by diet CP content in both environments. Growing lambs gained weight slightly faster in a cold environment when N intake was above 27 g/d. Nitrogen excretion and N balance were positively related (p<0.01) with diet CP content, and fecal N excretion was significantly increased (p<0.05) in the cold environment. Therefore, dietary CP content strongly influenced N metabolism; however, cold exposure did alter only fecal N excretion. The higher DM intake per kg BW at 11% CP diet in the cold environment permitted ADG comparable to 14% CP diet in the warm environment. The results of this study do support the hypothesis that lambs are better able to utilize a moderate reduction in the CP content of the diet in a cold environment.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2011

The effect of cecal ligation on the utilization of dietary [15N]urea in chickens fed 5 % protein diet plus urea were investigated. Nitrogen balance and utilization tended (P<0.01) to increase by cecal ligation. Total uric acid excretion was significantly decrease by (P<0.01) cecal ligation in chickens from origin of diet and urea (P<0.01). Excretion of ammonia was increased in chickens from origin of diet, where as it decreased in chickens an urea diet (P<0.01). Amount of urea nitrogen excretion from origin of urea was significantly decrease (P<0.01) by cecal ligation, but cecal ligated chicken fed 5% protein diet with urea showed 51.6% urea utilization. Result obtained in present study indicates that ceca is having beneficial role for urea utilization in chicken fed protein deficient diets, but ceca do not always positive role for nitrogen utilization.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.364-370
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• 1997

Four local cattle were ($145{\pm}9.7kg$) used in a $4{\times}4$ Latin square design to study the effect of different levels of rumen degradable protein (RDP) in straw based ration on purine derivatives excretion and microbial N supply in cattle. The four rations were formulated at the same amount of energy but varying RDP approximately 50 (U0), 75 (U1), 100 (U2) and 150 (U3) percent levels of RDP requirement for maintenance. They were fed ranged from 101 to 304 g RDP/d. Apparent digestibility of all nutrients increased significantly (p < 0.01) in cattle fed ration U2 than other rations. Rumen $NH_3-N$ concentration increased from 43 to 130 mg/l in response of RDP intake. Purine derivatives excretion increased significantly (p < 0.01) with incremental level of 203 g RDP/d (U2) intake and positively correlated (r=0.69, p < 0.01, n=16) with amount of RDP intake. The rates of rumen microbial N supply were 16.8, 27.2, 39.1 and 32.9 g/d for rations U0, U1, U2 and U3 respectively. Efficiency of microbial N supply (EMNS) per kg of DOMR were 19.0, 25.3, 33.0, and 28.6 g and per MJ of ME. Intake were 0.62, 1.00, 1.44 and 1.21 g for U0, U1, U2 and U3 respectively and highest results were obtained in cattle fed U2 ration. Results of this study suggest that PD excretion and EMNS were increased as incremental level of RDP intake (U2) in local cattle.