ORIGINAL PAPER
Development of a method for measuring lysine
and methionine bioavailability in rumen-protected
products for cattle
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1
Unité Mixte de Recherches Production du Lait,
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique,
35590 Saint-Gilles, France
2
The Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition,
Polish Academy of Sciences,
05-110 Jabłonna, Poland
Publication date: 2003-07-15
Corresponding author
H. Rulquin
Unité Mixte de Recherches Production du Lait,
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique,
35590 Saint-Gilles, France
J. Anim. Feed Sci. 2003;12(3):465-474
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The objective of the experiment was to fnd a quantitative test to determine the lysine or methionine bioavailability of rumen-protected amino acids. For these purposes we elaborated a blood
test including an in vivo calibration phase and we used this test on two commercial products whose
bioavailability is known (SmartamineM™ and SmartamineML™). Three ruminally and duodenally
fistulated low-yielding (10 kg/d) Holstein cows were used. The calibration phase consisted of relating blood plasma methionine and lysine concentrations to duodenal infusion of graded amounts of
methionine and lysine. The blood plasma responses of methionine and lysine to graded amounts
infused duodenally were linear. The methionine response was the same for all cows, but the lysine
response varied with the cows. Quantification of the bioavailability of commercial products is achieved
by relating the blood level variations, as induced by product supplementation, to those obtained by
duodenal infusion during the calibration phase. Bioavailability of methionine supplied by SmartamineM™ and SmartamineML™ was 75 and 84%, respectively. The reliability of the test is related
to the amount of amino acid provided by the product supplementation: providing a low quantity of
amino acids resulted in an overestimation of the bioavailability. This tendency is particularly clear
for lysine bioavailability estimation. The proposed blood test is valuable for the determination of the
bioavailability of methionine, but not lysine, of rumen-protected products.
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