Table 3.
Serum amino acid initial, final, and change in concentrations (µmol/L) of nulliparous ewes supplemented with varying doses of rumen-protected l-Arg (RP-ARG) for 14 d
| Treatment1 | Contrast P-values2 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CON | 90 | 180 | 360 | SEM | CON vs. 90, 180, 360 | 180 vs. 90 | 180 vs. 360 | |
| Arg | ||||||||
| Initial | 164.0 | 173.1 | 180.6 | 175.6 | 5.9 | 0.07 | 0.37 | 0.55 |
| Final | 160.3 | 158.5 | 178.3 | 176.1 | 7.1 | 0.20 | 0.05 | 0.83 |
| Change3 | −3.7 | −14.6 | −2.4 | 0.4 | 6.2 | 0.80 | 0.17 | 0.75 |
| Orn | ||||||||
| Initial | 45.3 | 39.4 | 45.0 | 46.5 | 2.1 | 0.46 | 0.07 | 0.70 |
| Final | 48.8 | 45.5 | 53.2 | 48.6 | 2.7 | 0.93 | 0.05 | 0.23 |
| Change3 | 3.5 | 6.1 | 8.2 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 0.51 | 0.59 | 0.14 |
| Cit | ||||||||
| Initial | 149.9 | 153.1 | 143.9 | 148.1 | 7.8 | 0.86 | 0.41 | 0.71 |
| Final | 134.5 | 137.5 | 138.6 | 155.0 | 8.4 | 0.35 | 0.93 | 0.17 |
| Change3 | −15.4 | −15.5 | −5.3 | 6.9 | 6.7 | 0.17 | 0.29 | 0.20 |
| Asp | ||||||||
| Initial | 10.9 | 10.4 | 12.1 | 12.5 | 0.7 | 0.32 | 0.10 | 0.65 |
| Final | 10.3 | 10.7 | 13.0 | 11.1 | 0.9 | 0.23 | 0.08 | 0.16 |
| Change3 | −0.5 | 0.2 | 0.9 | −1.4 | 0.9 | 0.65 | 0.60 | 0.07 |
| Pro | ||||||||
| Initial | 89.0 | 82.9 | 91.2 | 93.9 | 3.7 | 0.94 | 0.12 | 0.62 |
| Final | 95.1 | 94.3 | 99.3 | 91.8 | 3.5 | 0.99 | 0.31 | 0.13 |
| Change3 | 6.0 | 11.4 | 8.1 | −2.0 | 4.6 | 0.96 | 0.61 | 0.12 |
| Glu | ||||||||
| Initial | 54.9 | 44.1 | 52.2 | 54.6 | 2.7 | 0.14 | 0.04 | 0.53 |
| Final | 63.7 | 59.0 | 75.1 | 64.5 | 4.6 | 0.64 | 0.02 | 0.11 |
| Change3 | 8.7 | 15.0 | 22.9 | 9.9 | 4.5 | 0.17 | 0.22 | 0.05 |
| Gln | ||||||||
| Initial | 472.7 | 464.2 | 446.3 | 486.0 | 14.3 | 0.66 | 0.38 | 0.06 |
| Final | 300.1 | 295.5 | 293.8 | 309.0 | 9.9 | 0.95 | 0.89 | 0.23 |
| Change3 | −172.6 | −168.7 | −152.5 | −177.0 | 13.9 | 0.68 | 0.41 | 0.22 |
| Met | ||||||||
| Initial | 17.3 | 17.3 | 18.5 | 19.3 | 0.9 | 0.30 | 0.38 | 0.52 |
| Final | 18.1 | 17.3 | 19.2 | 17.6 | 1.1 | 0.94 | 0.24 | 0.31 |
| Change3 | 0.8 | −0.0 | 0.7 | −1.8 | 1.1 | 0.36 | 0.65 | 0.13 |
| Lys | ||||||||
| Initial | 98.2 | 91.6 | 115.7 | 114.7 | 7.0 | 0.26 | 0.02 | 0.92 |
| Final | 102.9 | 100.1 | 124.1 | 102.6 | 7.9 | 0.51 | 0.04 | 0.06 |
| Change3 | 4.7 | 8.5 | 8.4 | −12.2 | 7.5 | 0.72 | 0.99 | 0.06 |
| His | ||||||||
| Initial | 78.9 | 77.1 | 77.3 | 83.3 | 2.7 | 0.91 | 0.97 | 0.12 |
| Final | 80.2 | 78.7 | 80.7 | 76.7 | 2.7 | 0.64 | 0.60 | 0.30 |
| Change3 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 3.5 | −6.6 | 2.9 | 0.58 | 0.64 | 0.02 |
1Control received no supplemental Arg (CON; 50 g fine ground corn). Arginine supplemented groups received 90 (90), 180 (180), or 360 (360) mg RP-ARG·kg BW-1·d-1 mixed in 50 g of fine ground corn (n = 15 ewe lambs/treatment).
2The contrasts evaluated whether overall RP-ARG supplementation affected circulating serum amino acid concentrations (CON vs. 90, 180, and 360), whether 180 differed from 90 (180 vs. 90), and whether 180 differed from 360 (180 vs. 360). For the standard error of the mean (SEM), n = 15.
3Change = final − initial.