Effect of different levels of L-carnitine and lysine-methionine on broiler blood parameters

Objective. In the present study a completely randomized 3x3 factorial design was used to analyze the effects of different levels of L-Carnitine, lysine(Lys) and methionine (Met) on the blood concentrations of energy, protein and lipid metabolites of male broiler chickens. Materials and methods. A total of 270 newly hatched male broiler chickens (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to 9 groups (ten broilers per replicate and three replicates per treatment). The control group was fed a basal diet, whereas the treatment groups were fed basal diets supplemented with L-Carnitine (0 mg/kg, 75 mg/kg and 150 mg/kg) and lysine-methionine (0, 15 and 30%) for 42 days. On day 42, one bird was randomly chosen per replication, a blood sample was taken and the blood concentrations of glucose (GLU), uric acid (UAc), triglyceride (TG), VLDL, HDL, LDL, total protein (TP), albumin (Alb) and total cholesterol (TC) were analyzed. Results. Dietary L-carnitine supplementation had a significant effect (p<0.05) on uric acid (UAc), HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol (TC). The birds feed L-carnitine plus Lys and Met presented the highest plasmatic UAc level and the lowest plasmatic TC and LDL level. Moreover, L-carnitine significantly reduced total cholesterol (TC) when compared with both the control group and the birds feed Lys and Met without L-carnitine. Conclusions. A diet with 150 mg/kg L-carnitine plus 15% Lys and Met seems to be enough to sustain low plasmatic TC, LDL and HDL concentrations on male broiler.