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L-Arginine Nutrition and Metabolism in Ruminants

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Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition and Metabolism

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1354))

Abstract

L-Arginine (Arg) plays a central role in the nitrogen metabolism (e.g., syntheses of protein, nitric oxide, polyamines, and creatine), blood flow, nutrient utilization, and health of ruminants. This amino acid is produced by ruminal bacteria and is also synthesized from L-glutamine, L-glutamate, and L-proline via the formation of L-citrulline (Cit) in the enterocytes of young and adult ruminants. In pre-weaning ruminants, most of the Cit formed de novo by the enterocytes is used locally for Arg production. In post-weaning ruminants, the small intestine-derived Cit is converted into Arg primarily in the kidneys and, to a lesser extent, in endothelial cells, macrophages, and other cell types. Under normal feeding conditions, Arg synthesis contributes 65% and 68% of total Arg requirements for nonpregnant and late pregnany ewes fed a diet with ~12% crude protein, respectively, whereas creatine production requires 40% and 36% of Arg utilized by nonpregnant and late pregnant ewes, respectively. Arg has not traditionally been considered a limiting nutrient in diets for post-weaning, gestating, or lactating ruminants because it has been assumed that these animals can synthesize sufficient Arg to meet their nutritional and physiological needs. This lack of a full understanding of Arg nutrition and metabolism has contributed to suboptimal efficiencies for milk production, reproductive performance, and growth in ruminants. There is now considerable evidence that dietary supplementation with rumen-protected Arg (e.g., 0.25–0.5% of dietary dry matter) can improve all these production indices without adverse effects on metabolism or health. Because extracellular Cit is not degraded by microbes in the rumen due to the lack of uptake, Cit can be used without any encapsulation as an effective dietary source for the synthesis of Arg in ruminants, including dairy and beef cows, as well as sheep and goats. Thus, an adequate amount of supplemental rumen-protected Arg or unencapsulated Cit is necessary to support maximum survival, growth, lactation, reproductive performance, and feed efficiency, as well as optimum health and well-being in all ruminants.

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Abbreviations

AA:

Amino acid

Arg:

L-Arginine

BW:

Body weight

Cit:

L-Citrulline

IUGR:

Intrauterine growth restriction

MTOR:

Mechanistic target of rapamycin

NAG:

N-Acetylglutamate

NCG:

N-Carbamoylglutamate

NO:

Nitric oxide

NRC:

National Research Council

RPA:

Rumen-protected arginine product

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Beef Program and the Department of Animal Science Mini-Grant Program. The authors thank our research assistants (Dr. Gayan I. Nawaratna, W. David Long, Daniel Long, Neil D. Wu, and Dr. Shengdi Hu) for their technical assistance, as well as Dr. Jason J. Cleere and Dr. Tryon A. Wickersham for helpful discussion.

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  1. Departments of Animal Science and Nutrition, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Guoyao Wu, Fuller W. Bazer, M. Carey Satterfield, Kyler R. Gilbreath, Erin A. Posey & Yuxiang Sun

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    Guoyao Wu

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Wu, G., Bazer, F.W., Satterfield, M.C., Gilbreath, K.R., Posey, E.A., Sun, Y. (2022). L-Arginine Nutrition and Metabolism in Ruminants. In: Wu, G. (eds) Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition and Metabolism. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1354. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85686-1_10

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