title: Effect of dietary protein content on episodic growth hormone secretion and on heat production of male broiler chickens.
abstract: 1. The effect of the crude protein content (200 and 150 g/kg) of isoenergetic diets on episodic growth hormone (GH) release and on heat production was investigated in male broiler chickens. 2. Decreasing the crude protein content of isoenergetic diets from 200 g/kg (HP diet) to 150 g/kg (LP diet) resulted in depressed body weight gain, impaired food conversion efficiency and increased abdominal fat deposition. 3. The pattern of growth hormone secretion was markedly affected by dietary treatment. Broiler chickens fed on the LP diet had higher overall mean, amplitude, baseline and peak frequency than the HP chickens. 4. The LP chickens produced more heat per unit of metabolic body weight than the HP chickens. 5. The hypothesis relating the pattern of GH secretion to protein conversion efficiency was corroborated.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Physiology and Immunology of Domestic Animals, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Buyse
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Decuypere
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Berghman
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Kühn
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vandesande
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D001835:Body Weight; D002645:Chickens / Q000502:physiology*; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D004044:Dietary Proteins; D013006:Growth Hormone