Arginine: A Dispensable Amino Acid for Postpubertal Growth and Pregnancy of Swine

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Five gravid first-litter females (90 days postcoitum) and six nongravid females (120 kg) were employed in switch-back experiments to ascertain if nitrogen retention could be depressed by feeding an arginine-free purified diet. The purified diet contained the Rippel4 requirement pattern of essential amino acids; glutamic acid and glycine were used to bring the dietary protein equivalent to 13%. Gilts were fed the purified diets (2 kg/day) containing either zero or 0.46% L-arginine·HC1 for 9-day collection periods. Diets were kept isonitrogenous by adjustment of the glutamic acid level. Daily nitrogen retention was greater for gravid gilts than for nongravid gilts. Omission of arginine from the diet did not depress nitrogen retention nor enhance urinary urea excretion or depress hemoglobin or plasma urea nitrogen concentration. Urinary excretion of orotic acid and citric acid remained unchanged. These results support the view that postpubertal female swine, whether gravid or nongravid, can synthesize arginine in sufficient quantity to meet their needs for postpubertal growth and fetal development.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: