. 2023 May 9;102(7):102773. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2023.102773

Table 6.

Effects of reduced-protein diets supplemented with arginine or branched-chain amino acids on short-chain fatty acid profile in cecal content in broiler chickens challenged with Eimeria spp. on d 21.

		Acetate	Propionate	Isobutyrate	Butyrate	Isovalerate	Valerate	Caproate	SCFA¹	BSCFA¹	Total SCFA
Means for the main effect of challenge²
NCG (-)		51.9^a	2.66^a	0.29^b	10.7^a	0.31^b	0.63	0.003^b	65.9^a	0.60^b	66.5^a
CG (+)		27.8^b	1.80^b	0.44^a	3.09^b	0.78^a	0.51	0.045^a	33.2^b	1.22^a	34.5^b
Means for the main effect of diets³
PC		44.2	2.32	0.38	7.95	0.57	0.61	0.01	55.1	0.95	56.0
NC		39.4	2.14	0.31	6.86	0.48	0.55	0.05	48.9	0.79	49.8
ARG		36.9	2.23	0.37	6.56	0.57	0.57	0.02	46.3	0.94	47.2
BCAA		38.9	2.23	0.40	6.27	0.57	0.55	0.01	47.9	0.97	48.9
Means for the interaction effect
-	PC	56.6	2.74	0.32	11.7	0.36	0.64	0.00	71.8	0.68	72.4
-	NC	54.2	2.69	0.25	11.3	0.28	0.71	0.00	68.9	0.53	69.4
-	ARG	46.1	2.30	0.24	10.1	0.27	0.55	0.00	59.0	0.51	59.5
-	BCAA	50.5	2.92	0.36	9.85	0.35	0.63	0.01	63.9	0.71	64.6
+	PC	31.7	1.89	0.45	4.16	0.77	0.58	0.02	38.4	1.22	39.6
+	NC	24.6	1.60	0.37	2.43	0.68	0.40	0.11	29.0	1.04	30.1
+	ARG	27.7	2.15	0.50	3.07	0.88	0.59	0.04	33.6	1.37	35.0
+	BCAA	27.3	1.54	0.44	2.70	0.80	0.47	0.02	32.0	1.23	33.3
Source of variation
Challenge		<0.001	0.012	0.016	<0.001	<0.001	0.059	0.035	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Diet		0.195	0.987	0.740	0.433	0.783	0.914	0.363	0.234	0.762	0.251
Interaction		0.434	0.601	0.717	0.815	0.774	0.256	0.258	0.456	0.754	0.459
SEM		3.43	0.469	0.083	1.08	0.110	0.089	0.024	4.48	0.190	4.58

^a,b

Means within a column lacking a common superscript differ (P < 0.05).

SCFA, unbranched short chain fatty acids (acetate, propionate, butyrate, valerate, caproate); BSCFA, branched short chain fatty acids (isobutyrate, isovalerate); Total SCFA, total short chain fatty acids.

NCG, nonchallenged group; CG, challenged group.

PC, positive control with 20.0% crude protein content; NC, negative control with 17.5% crude protein content; ARG, negative control supplemented with arginine at 50% above breeder recommendations; BCAA, negative control supplemented with BCAA at 50% above breeder recommendations.