Effect of taurine on lipid metabolism of broilers

To evaluate the effect of taurine supplements on broiler lipid metabolism, two hundred and forty 1-day-old Avian broilers were randomly divided into five groups, each group with three replicates for 21 days. The groups were fed basal diets with 0 (control group), 0.05%, 0.10%, 0.15% and 0.20% taurine, respectively. The results showed that dietary taurine of 0.15% increased apparent metabolisable energy and crude fat digestibility (P <0.05), enhanced the activity of lipase in pancreas and small intestine (P <0.05); compared to the control group, 0.15% taurine significantly decreased the content of serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), free fatty acids (FFA), glucose (GLU) and liver TG, FFA (P <0.05), increased the content of serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (P <0.05). A total of 0.20% taurine remarkably decreased the content of serum TC, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), GLU and liver LDL-C, FFA (P <0.05), increased the content of serum HDLC, serum lipoprotein lipase and liver hepatic lipase activity (P < 0.05). Considering the physiological and biochemical indexes above, adding 0.15% taurine was optimal.