Glutamine in ovo - Effects on the development and health of the gastrointestinal tract, antioxidant status and immune response in chickens

Abstract

We observed that in birds there is an extensive embryonic mortality at the end of the incubation period, a period in which events related to hatching occur, such as the opening of the membrane and the eggshell, the beginning of pulmonary respiration and the emergence of the egg itself. The frequent activity of embryos implies a large consumption of energy, which together with the accelerated intestinal development, observed especially at the end of incubation, causes a very high energy demand on their part. At this time, birds rely on the residual yolk sac as their only supply of nutrients to provide energy. Which, generally, does not constitute meeting the high nutritional requirements of the moment, causing catabolism of body resources such as muscles and immune cells, causing a decrease in body weight, a reduction in pectoralis and immunity, in addition to a decline in the weight of the organs. On the other hand, we observed that the development of the small intestine can also be improved before hatching through nutritional stimulation through in ovo feeding (IOF). Glutamine is a conditionally essential amino acid that is strongly linked to the antioxidant status of chicks and their immune defenses. It also has well-documented stimulatory effects on the proliferation of epithelial cells of the small intestine that lead to better morphology of the small intestine in several species. This set of potential benefits of glutamine in addition to the need to study and better understand the biological mechanisms involved in the relationships between nutraceutical additives inoculated via in ovo (IOF) and poultry, explain the choice of this amino acid for this study, as well as describe the objective of the study.