The effect of cysteine and glutamine supplementation on sheep infected with Trichostrongylus colubriformis.

摘要

This indoor study investigated the effect of direct daily abomasal supplementation of both cysteine (cys; 1g) and glutamine (gln; 5g) on a 12-week subclinical Trichostrongylus colubriformis trickle infection in lambs. Parasite infection increased the total number of leukocytes and eosinophils in peripheral circulation, nitrogen excreted in faeces and urine (P?.01) and plasma total protein concentration (P < 0.05). Infection also reduced liveweight gain and plasma albumin concentration (both P < 0.001), but did not alter feed intake. Supplementation increased nitrogen retention (P < 0.05), tended to increase phe (P=0.056) and cys (P=0.097) flux, reduced the number of circulating eosinophils (P < 0.001) and changed the pattern of faecal egg counts(P?.05), with no effect on final nematode counts. This experiment showed supplementation with two non-essential amino acids alone can elicit changes in the response of sheep to internal parasite infection.