Background: Lysine is used widely in livestock production due to the shortage of feed protein resources. L-lysine·H2SO4 contains L-lysine sulphate as well as fermentation co-products which contain other amino acids and phosphorus. However, there are few articles about L-lysine·H2SO4 product regarding intestinal morphology and liver pathology of broiler chickens. In this article, we focus on the absorption and metabolism of L-lysine·H2SO4 revealed in the variation of intestinal morphology and liver pathology to determine the tolerance of chicks for L-lysine·H2SO4.
Methods: To evaluate the tolerance of broilers for L-lysine·H2SO4, 240 one day old broilers were allocated randomly to one of five dietary treatments which included corn-soybean diets containing 0, 1%, 4%, 7% or 10% L-lysine·H2SO4 (L-lysine content = 55%).
Results: Supplementation of 1% L-lysine·H2SO4 in the diet had no negative effects. However, 4%, 7% or 10% L-lysine·H2SO4 supplementation produced negative responses on broiler performance, carcass characteristics, blood biochemistry, and particularly on intestinal morphology and liver pathology compared with broilers fed the control diet.
Conclusion: Our results show that supplementation with 1% L-lysine·H2SO4 had no negative effects on performance, carcass characteristics, blood biochemistry, intestinal morphology and liver pathology in broilers, but supplementation with 4%, 7% or 10% L-lysine·H2SO4 produced a negative response, particularly with respect to intestinal morphology and liver pathology.
Keywords: Broilers; Intestinal morphology; L-lysine·H2SO4; Liver pathology.