Table 3.
Effect of supplementing chitosan on blood parameters and microbial N flux.
| HF | BS | p-Value | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTR | CHI | CTR | CHI | SEM | Breed | Treat | Breed × Treat | |
| Blood parameters | ||||||||
| BUN, mmol/L | 2.52 | 2.39 | 2.71 | 2.81 | 0.249 | 0.267 | 0.960 | 0.672 |
| Glucose, mmol/L | 3.70 | 4.49 | 3.63 | 3.28 | 0.161 | 0.002 | 0.216 | 0.005 |
| IGF-1, ng/mL | 141 | 188 | 103 | 99 | 12.0 | <0.001 | 0.115 | 0.068 |
| N flux | ||||||||
| Purine derivative excretion (mmol/d) | 332 | 279 | 300 | 312 | 28.1 | 0.981 | 0.496 | 0.291 |
| N flux (g N/d) | 244 | 204 | 236 | 231 | 26.4 | 0.735 | 0.432 | 0.535 |
HF: Holstein Friesian; BS: brown Swiss; CTR: control; CHI: chitosan; BUN: blood urea nitrogen; SEM: standard error of the mean; and Treat: treatment.