This study evaluated the effects of dietary threonine (Thr) and arginine (Arg) concentrations on growth performance, meat quality, stress indicators, antioxidant capacity, and gut health in broiler chickens raised under multiple stress conditions. A total of 280 21-d-old broiler chickens were randomly allotted to 4 treatments with 8 replicates. The positive control (PC) group was raised under normal rearing conditions (thermoneutral temperature and low stocking density; 22.6 ± 0.6°C for 24 h and 15.2 birds/m2), whereas the remaining groups were subjected to multiple stress conditions (cyclic heat stress and high stocking density; 29.3 ± 0.9°C for 10 h, 22.8 ± 0.8°C for 14 h, and 30.3 birds/m2). Both the PC and negative control (NC) groups received a basal diet, while the other two groups were provided diets containing 1.3-fold higher concentrations of digestible Thr or Arg compared to the basal diet. Experimental diets and water were supplied ad libitum for 14 d. Results indicated that growth performance was decreased (p p p p p p OCLN, ZO-1, and HSP70 were greater (p < 0.05) in Thr and Arg groups than in NC group. In conclusion, increasing dietary concentrations of Thr and Arg improves intestinal integrity and mitigates stress response in broiler chickens exposed to multiple stress.
Kim et al. (Thu,) studied this question.