Open AccessArticle
Assessment of Neurodegenerative Changes in Turkeys Fed Diets with Different Proportions of Arginine and Methionine Relative to Lysine
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Department of Biochemistry and Toxicology, University of Life Sciences, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
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Department of Poultry Science, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Ilias Giannenas
Received: 27 April 2022
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Revised: 8 June 2022
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Accepted: 9 June 2022
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Published: 14 June 2022
Simple Summary
It is important to take care of a properly balanced amino acid composition in the diet in order to inhibit or delay the occurrence of processes and changes related to the destruction of nervous tissue. Therefore, an attempt was made in this manuscript to evaluate the effect of different ratios of the key amino acids arginine and methionine, relative to lysine, in relation to two turkey feeding standards. The amino acid guidelines formulated by British United Turkeys (BUT) suggest higher levels of lysine (Lys) in turkey diets than those recommended by the National Research Council (NRC). In order to assess the impact of such supplementation, we analyzed the level of indicators informing the presence or degree of advancement of neurodegenerative processes in the nervous tissue (the level of acetylcholinesterase and amyloid-β; the concentration of AChE complexes with amyloid-β and Tau protein, called glycosylated acetylcholinesterase (GAChE), indicative of the destruction of neurons). The level of low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1, or LRP-1, which facilitates the breakdown of toxic amyloid-β, was also assessed. In addition, the effect of different doses of these amino acids on neurodegenerative changes in DNA, especially the degree of methylation of histone proteins resulting from covalent modifications was compared between lysine and arginine residues.