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

Table 7.

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 28.

Acetate Propionate Isobutyrate Butyrate Isovalerate Valerate Caproate SCFA1 BSCFA1 Total SCFA
Means for the main effect of challenge2
NCG (-) 60.9a 3.22a 0.42 9.74a 0.51a 0.73a 0.01 74.6 0.92 75.5a
CG (+) 48.3b 2.42b 0.36 7.70b 0.40b 0.52b 0.01 58.9 0.76 59.7b
Means for the main effect of diets3
PC 60.2 2.97 0.42 9.34 0.53 0.69 0.00 73.2 0.96 74.2
NC 53.4 2.77 0.41 8.21 0.46 0.62 0.02 65.0 0.87 65.9
ARG 51.2 2.56 0.36 8.54 0.41 0.59 0.00 62.9 0.78 63.7
BCAA 53.4 2.98 0.36 8.80 0.40 0.60 0.03 65.8 0.76 66.6
Means for the interaction effect
- PC 70.3 3.66 0.47 11.2 0.61 0.84 0.00 86.0 1.08 87.0
- NC 61.3 3.35 0.49 8.65 0.56 0.75 0.04 74.1 1.05 75.2
- ARG 55.5 2.82 0.35 9.62 0.42 0.68 0.00 68.7 0.78 69.4
- BCAA 56.3 3.04 0.36 9.52 0.43 0.65 0.00 69.5 0.79 70.3
+ PC 50.1 2.29 0.38 7.51 0.46 0.54 0.00 60.5 0.84 61.3
+ NC 45.5 2.20 0.34 7.77 0.36 0.48 0.00 56.0 0.70 56.7
+ ARG 46.9 2.29 0.37 7.45 0.40 0.50 0.00 57.1 0.78 57.9
+ BCAA 50.5 2.92 0.36 8.08 0.37 0.55 0.05 62.1 0.73 62.9
Source of variation
Challenge <0.001 0.008 0.247 0.027 0.021 0.001 0.832 <0.001 0.076 <0.001
Diet 0.175 0.694 0.693 0.839 0.166 0.623 0.468 0.247 0.390 0.237
Interaction 0.315 0.406 0.569 0.719 0.496 0.634 0.184 0.359 0.512 0.347
SEM 4.23 0.406 0.048 1.27 0.045 0.085 0.021 5.34 0.128 5.36
a,b

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

1

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.

2

NCG, nonchallenged group; CG, challenged group.

3

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.