Quercetin Increased Protein Utilization and Decreased Nitrogen Excretion in Broilers by Activating TOR Signaling Pathway

The study was conducted to investigate the effect and mechanism of dietary quercetin supplementation on protein utilization of Arbor Acres(AA)broilers.A total of 2401-day-old AA broilers were randomly allocated to four treatments with six replicates,comprising 10 broilers each replicate(60 broilers per treatment).Birds were fed either a corn-soybean meal basal diet without quercetin(control)or a basal diet supplemented with 0.2,0.4 or 0.6 g of quercetin per kg feed,and the trial lasted 42 days.Dietary quercetin supplementation tended to increase the apparent metabolic rate of protein(p=0.076)and the content of serum albumin(p=0.062)in AA broilers.Compared with the control,dietary quercetin supplementation increased the contents of protein in breast muscle(p<0.05)and in thigh muscle(p=0.053).In addition,quercetin up-regulated mRNA expression of insulin-like growth factor 1(IGF-1),phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K),target of rapamycin(TOR),ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1(S6K1),eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E(eIF4E),eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4G(eIF4G),eukaryotic elongation factor 2(eEF2)and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4B(eIF4B)genes and down-regulated mRNA expression of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase(eEF2K)and eukaryotic initiation factor 4E binding protein1(4E-BP1)genes in breast muscle,thigh muscle and liver of AA broilers(p<0.05).The present results suggested that dietary quercetin supplementation enhanced protein utilization in broilers by activating TOR signaling pathway.

Characterization of Lay Phase in Three Genetic Types of Heavy Broilers Breeder in Tropical Conditions

The objective of the present work is characterizing some parameters in the lay phase in the lines of heavy broilers breeder Cobb Avian 48, Arbor Acres Plus and Ross 208, reared under the same commercial conditions in the tropics. Monitored three batches of approximately 18,000 females each （one for each genetic type）, from weeks 24 to 64, according to the conditions of handling and power described by the generic lines distribution companies. Although no differences were found for feed intake, Cobb Avian was presented a lower rate of feed conversion, being also that presented the highest percentage of implementation and production of incubables eggs, which meant that it was in line with the highest cumulative production of chickens by bird and week for tropical conditions studied. To adjust the lay data to a Gorssman model, in order to predict the parameters that characterize the lay modeling, estimated the best behavior for Cobb Avian 48 females, because while it takes more time to reach the level of putting constant （5.30 weeks） and maintain it for less time （2.4 weeks）, they manage to put constant high （79.11%） level, considering that the largest number of eggs per bird （171.19 vs. 164.54 and 160.11 in Arbor Acres and Ross 208, respectively）.