Effects of Supplementary Feeding L-Arginine on Blood Parameters, Pregnancy Rate, Re-Service Rate of Yili Mares during Peripartum and Newborn Foal Growth

  • LIU Baoxuan ,
  • LI Xiaobin ,
  • XU Hao ,
  • LI Ning ,
  • LI Fengming ,
  • ZANG Changjiang
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  • Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Herbivore Nutrition for Meat&Milk Production, College of Animal Science, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China

Received date: 2020-02-11

  Online published: 2020-08-13

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of supplementary feeding L-arginine on blood parameters of Yili mares, growth of newborn foals, and mating pregnancy rate and re-service rate after childbirth during the last 21 days of pregnancy and 25 days after delivery. Thirty Yili mares with similar age, body weight, height at withers, and due date were selected for test and divided into 2 groups, control group (n=15) and L-arginine group (n=15). The mares in control group were fed a basal diet, and those in the L-arginine group were fed an experimental diet which supplemented with 0.5% L-arginine on the basis of the basal diet formula, and the supplementary feeding amount of L-alanine was 60 g/(horse·d). Newborn foal body weight and body size parameters were measured within 12 h on mares after childbirth, and pregnancy rate and re-service rate during mating were counted. Mare venous blood samples were collected on days 0 (before the supplementary feeding trial), 21, and 45 of trial. The results showed that compared with the control group, there were no significant differences in the body weight, body size parameters, and mating pregnancy rate of mares after delivery in the L-arginine group (P>0.05), and the mating re-service rate of mares after delivery in the L-arginine group was significantly decreased (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, there were no significant differences in the plasma total nitric oxide synthase (TNOS) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activities and nitric oxide (NO) content on the day 21 of trial in the L-arginine group (P>0.05); the plasma TNOS activity was significantly reduced (P<0.05), the NO content was extremely significantly reduced (P<0.01), and the eNOS activity was not significantly changed on the day 45 of trial in the L-arginine group (P>0.05). Compared with the control group, there were no significant differences in ammonia (NH3) and urea nitrogen (UN) contents on the day 21 of trial in the L-arginine group (P>0.05); the plasma NH3 content was extremely significantly reduced (P<0.01), and there was no significant difference in the UN content on the day 45 of trial (P>0.05). Compared with the control group, there were no significant differences in the plasma growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor-Ⅰ (IGF-Ⅰ), and insulin (INS) contents on the days 21 and 45 of trial in the L-arginine group (P>0.05). The results suggest that supplementary feeding L-arginine during peripartum of Yili mares can change the plasma TNOS activity, NO and NH3 contents in the mares' body circulation, and reduce mating re-service rate after delivery of mares, but cannot significantly affect the body weight, body size parameters of newborn foals and the mating pregnancy rate after delivery of mares. L-arginine can be used as a nutritional regulator for nutritional supplement of mares during last trimester or the nursing after childbirth to improve fertility of mares.

Cite this article

LIU Baoxuan , LI Xiaobin , XU Hao , LI Ning , LI Fengming , ZANG Changjiang . Effects of Supplementary Feeding L-Arginine on Blood Parameters, Pregnancy Rate, Re-Service Rate of Yili Mares during Peripartum and Newborn Foal Growth[J]. Chinese Journal of Animal Nutrition, 2020 , 32(8) : 3789 -3797 . DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-267x.2020.08.038

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