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Volume 9
Issue 8
10.3390/ani9080547
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Article

Effect of Supplementation with Trimethylglycine (Betaine) and/or Vitamins on Semen Quality, Fertility, Antioxidant Status, DNA Repair and Welfare of Roosters Exposed to Chronic Heat Stress

by
Youssef A. Attia
1,2,*,
Asmaa Sh. El-Naggar
2,
Bahaa M. Abou-Shehema
3 and 3
1
Arid Land Agriculture Department, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
2
Animal and Poultry Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Damanhour University, Damanhour 22713, Egypt
3
Department of Poultry Nutrition, Animal production Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Alexandria 21917, Egypt
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Animals 2019, 9(8), 547; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9080547
Received: 18 June 2019 / Revised: 31 July 2019 / Accepted: 2 August 2019 / Published: 12 August 2019
(This article belongs to the Collection Feeding Strategies to Improve Sustainability and Welfare in Animal Production)
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Simple Summary

Semen, reproductive traits, and the welfare of males are negatively affected by environmental stressors. Stress-alleviating agents, such as vitamins and osmoregulators, may improve semen quality, seminal and blood plasma constituents, antioxidants’ status, and the welfare of roosters exposed to chronic heat stress (CHS). It has been shown that betaine (Bet) may be a useful tool for improving the reproductive traits of roosters exposed to CHS, and may have comparable effects to vitamin C and/or E, thus improving the breeding strategy.

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the influence of betaine (Bet, 1000 mg/kg), with or without vitamin C (VC, 200 mg/kg ascorbic acid) and/or vitamin E (VE, 150 mg/kg α-tocopherol acetate) on semen quality, seminal and blood plasma constituents, antioxidants’ status, DNA repair, and the welfare of chronic heat stress (CHS)-exposed roosters. A total of 54 roosters were divided into six groups of nine replicates. One group was kept under thermoneutral conditions, whereas the other five were kept under CHS. One of the five groups served as an unsupplemented CHS group, and was fed with a basal diet. The other four CHS groups were supplemented with Bet, Bet + VC, Bet + VE, and Bet + VC + VE, respectively. Our data indicate that supplementation with Bet, Bet + VC, Bet + VE, and Bet + VC + VE, resulted in complete recovery of the CHS effect on sperm concentration and livability, semen pH, and fertility compared to the thermoneutral group. Seminal plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was significantly (p < 0.05) increased with Bet, with or without vitamins, compared to the thermoneutral and CHS groups. Urea and blood plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) were totally recovered with Bet, with or without vitamin treatments. Both the jejunum and ileum DNA were partially recovered following Bet, with or without vitamin supplementation. In conclusion, Bet, at 1000 mg/kg feed, may be a useful agent for increasing semen quality, fertility, welfare, and to improve the breeding strategy of breeder males in hot climates. View Full-Text
Keywords: betaine; vitamin C; vitamin E; heat stress; roosters; semen quality; blood constituents betaine; vitamin C; vitamin E; heat stress; roosters; semen quality; blood constituents
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
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MDPI and ACS Style

Attia, Y.A.; El-Naggar, A.S.; Abou-Shehema, B.M.; Abdella, A.A. Effect of Supplementation with Trimethylglycine (Betaine) and/or Vitamins on Semen Quality, Fertility, Antioxidant Status, DNA Repair and Welfare of Roosters Exposed to Chronic Heat Stress. Animals 2019, 9, 547. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9080547

AMA Style

Attia YA, El-Naggar AS, Abou-Shehema BM, Abdella AA. Effect of Supplementation with Trimethylglycine (Betaine) and/or Vitamins on Semen Quality, Fertility, Antioxidant Status, DNA Repair and Welfare of Roosters Exposed to Chronic Heat Stress. Animals. 2019; 9(8):547. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9080547

Chicago/Turabian Style

Attia, Youssef A., Asmaa S. El-Naggar, Bahaa M. Abou-Shehema, and Ahmed A. Abdella. 2019. "Effect of Supplementation with Trimethylglycine (Betaine) and/or Vitamins on Semen Quality, Fertility, Antioxidant Status, DNA Repair and Welfare of Roosters Exposed to Chronic Heat Stress" Animals 9, no. 8: 547. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9080547

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