Regulation of Lipid Metabolism in Chicken by Feeding Orotic Acid

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the potential effects of different concentrations of dietary orotic acid (OA) on lipids metabolism in chicken meat.

Administration of 0.3% OA increased significantly (P <0.05) body gain and improved feed efficiency by 10%. However, addition of OA to chicken diets resulted in a reduction of total cholesterol at all OA levels. Reduction was 25 to 41% in liver, 12 to 25% in both blood and breast meat, and 25 to 35% in leg meat. This reduction of total cholesterol in all tested tissues was accompanied by elevation of tissue total neutral lipid (NL). This elevation was between 4 to 16% in liver 8 to 24% in leg and 10 to 25% in breast meat. There was no concomitant change in tissue total phospholipid (PL), in all tested tissues.