Nanoparticles in combination with amino acids change productive and immunological indicators of broiler chicken

The prospects of using metal nanoparticles to stimulate productivity of farm animals are widely discussed. However, nano-sized materials exhibit various negative properties, such as pro-oxidant effects, and can provoke apoptosis and kidney damage. A possible approach is the use of ultrafine materials in combination with agents leveling adverse effects of nanoparticles. For the first time we studied the prospects of joint use of iron and arginine nanoparticles, the mechanism of their interaction and influence on the productivity of poultry and demonstrated that their simultaneous application promote live weight gain. We formed 6 groups ( n = 30) of 11-day old broilers of the cross Smena 8. The poultry was injected twice (after 2 week intervals) with iron nanoparticles and fed either with dietary arginine (the amino acid which is known to influence metabolism and immune response and considered as conditionally essential for inflammatory and oxidative stress), or the mixture of arginine, lysine and methionine. Our experiments showed that the joint use of iron nanoparticles and arginine increased the weight gain up to 9.2 % as compared to the control, and moreover, the iron nanoparticles together with a mixture of amino acids provided an increase up to 20 %. Withal, the nanoparticles and amino acids when applied separately resulted in lower weight gain, and at the end of the experiment the body weight of broilers fed with dietary arginine (group II) and those injected with iron nanoparticles (group III) increased by 6.1 and 5.9 % (P £ 0.05), respectively. Intramuscular administration of iron nanoparticles (the poultry groups III, IV and VI) promoted the immune response that was manifested in enhanced level of leukocytes - by 8.12; 10.50 and 3.88 % (P £ 0.05), respectively, on the day 1, and by 7.3; 8.19 and 4.00 % (P £ 0.05), respectively, in a week. The study of NO-metabolites showed an increased level in blood and liver (by 3-4 %) only in groups III, IV and VI. Singly injected iron nanoparticles (group III) changed metabolism of arginine and increased its level by 3.83 % (P £ 0.05). Thus the joint use of iron nanoparticles and the complex of arginine with other amino acids is most likely to be helpful in the poultry meat production.