Author(s)

Vladimir G. Vertiprakhov^*, Alena A. Grozina, Ivan A. Egorov, Tatiana N. Lenkova, Vardges A. Manukyan, Tatiana A. Egorova

Federal Scientific Center, “All-Russian Research and Technological Poultry Institute” of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.

The study was aimed at the evaluation of the effects of breed, age, different digestion stimulators, and dietary crude protein (CP) level on the activities of proteolytic enzymes in pancreatic tissue and duodenal chymus (in vivo), serum trypsin and α₁-proteinase inhibitor (A1PI) concentrations in meat-type chicks. The study of age dynamics of trypsin and A1PI concentrations was performed on the chicks of hybrid cross “Smena-8”and two parental lines (Plymouth Rock and Cornish) fed standard commercial corn-wheat-SBM diets. Twenty birds per breed were euthanized at 1, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days of age to obtain blood samples and pancreatic homogenate. Experiments on the effects of different digestion promotors (probiotic, acidifier, phytobiotic, enzymatic preparation) and different CP levels (finisher diet, CP 20%, vs. ground corn, CP 8.5%) were performed on 12 hybrid chicks with fistulated duodenum from 14 to 50 days of age. The following conclusions were made: 1) At 1 day of age high proteolytic activity in pancreatic tissue and maximal serum concentrations of trypsin and A1PI were found in both hybrid and parental lines. Since 7 to 35 days of age A1PI concentration was nearly constant, serum trypsin concentration decreased while proteolytic activity in pancreatic tissue exhibited undulate increase; 2) Proteolytic activity in pancreatic tissue was higher in hybrids compared to the parental lines from 7 to 35 days of age (p < 0.05); 3) Supplementation of diet with exogenous enzymes stimulated the digestion due to the increase in protease activity in duodenal chymus by 9.1% compared to unsupplemented control (p < 0.05); 4) Proteolytic activity in duodenal chymus significantly responded to the substitution of ground corn for the complete diet by 2-fold decrease while serum trypsin concentration responded by 2.5-fold increase (p < 0.001). This fact can indicate that physiological functions of digestive proteases are not confined to the digestive processes.

Chicks, Pancreas, Trypsin, Alpha-1 Proteinase Inhibitor (Antitrypsin), Serum, Duodenal Fluid

Vertiprakhov, V. , Grozina, A. , Egorov, I. , Lenkova, T. , Manukyan, V. and Egorova, T. (2017) On the Activities of Pancreatic Proteases and Alpha-1 Proteinase Inhibitor in Meat-Type Chicken. Open Journal of Animal Sciences, 7, 289-296. doi: 10.4236/ojas.2017.73022.