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Influence of Level of Feed Intake on Concentration of Purine Derivatives in Urinary Spot Samples and Microbial Nitrogen Supply in Crossbred Bulls |
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S. K. George, M. T. Dipu, U. R. Mehra*, A. K. Verma, P. Singh |
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Correspondence:
U. R. Mehra,
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| Abstract |
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The potential of the spot urine sampling technique as an alternative to performing a total urine collection to predict the microbial nitrogen supply was evaluated in crossbred bulls. In a completely randomized design, 20 growing crossbred bulls were assigned four levels of feed intake (120, 100, 80 and 60% of voluntary dry matter intake) on diets comprised of wheat straw and concentrate mixture (50:50). After three months of experimental feeding, a metabolism trial was conducted for ten days, during which spot urine collections were performed every 6 h post feeding on days 9 and 10. The daily urinary excretion of allantoin (A) and purine derivatives (PD) decreased with the reduction in feed intake while creatinine (C) excretion remained similar in animals fed at different levels. The microbial nitrogen (MN) supply calculated from the PD excreted in total urine (35.08 to 72.08 g/d) was higher at increased levels of feed intake. PD concentration in spot urine samples had poor correlation with feed intake except at 12 h post feeding. A/C ratio and PD/C ratio in spot urine samples remained similar irrespective of sampling time and significantly (p<0.01) correlated with daily urinary PD excretion, digestible organic matter intake and dry matter (DM) intake. However, no significant differences were evident in these ratios among animals fed at levels 120, 100 and 80% of voluntary dry matter intake (VDMI) at different times post feeding. These results suggests that the spot urine sampling technique to predict the microbial protein supply is not suitable for detecting small differences in MN supply and hence, estimation of PD excreted in total urine (mmol/d) is necessary to assess precisely the MN supply in crossbred bulls. |
| Keywords:
Crossbred Bulls; Different Levels of Feed Intake; Purine Derivatives; Microbial Nitrogen; Spot Urine; PD/C Ratio |
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