Improving intestinal health with tributyrin and alpha-monobutyrin

Improving intestinal health with tributyrin and alpha-monobutyrin

Sustainable and efficient animal production is important in poultry husbandry. However, in commercial flocks, animals are subjected to multiple stress factors such as high stocking densities and suboptimal climate conditions which makes them highly susceptible for pathogens. This results in:

• decreased growth performance,
• high mortality rates and
• a lower profitability.

The use of antibiotics is restricted due to the increasing number of resistant bacteria and therefore other solutions must be found.

A dietary feed supplement which supports intestinal health by stimulating intestinal development, modulating the immune response and reducing the growth of pathogenic bacteria, thereby improving animal performance and production is of high interest.

FRA® Butyrin Hybrid

Butyrate glycerides (butyrin) come in multiple forms of which tributyrin and alpha-monobutyrin are the most potent. Both tributyrin and alpha-monobutyrin derive from the esterification of butyric acid with glycerol. Depending on the reaction time, pressure and temperature, different butyrate glycerides are formed which possesses different properties. As the name implies, tributyrin consists of three molecules of butyric acid which makes it highly concentrated in butyric acid.

Tributyrin is a fat, which under the action of lipase will release butyric acid in the small intestine. Tributyrin has already proven to promote:

• villi growth,
• gene expression of tight junction,
• microflora diversity and
• to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation.

In contrast to tributyrin, alpha-monobutyrin contains only one molecule of butyric acid positioned at the first carbon atom of the glycerol backbone. This molecule can interact with the bacteria and control the pathogenic activity.

Alpha-monobutyrin is also pH-independent, meaning it will not dissociate in the gastro-intestinal tract due to the pH level, in contrast to fatty acids which are pH dependent.

Material & Methods

• Four hundred-thirty-two (432) newly hatched male broilers of genetics Cobb 500 were allocated to a control and treatment group with 8 repetitions of 27 animals each.
• A practical corn-soybean meal diet was used as basal diet.
• Feed of the treatment group was supplemented with 0.1% FRA® Butyrin Hybrid from day 0 till day 14.
• Feed and water were provided ad libitum.
• Body weight gain, feed consumption, feed conversion ratio (FCR), livability, European Production Efficiency Factor (EPEF) and feed cost per gain (FCG) were determined for the entire trial period of 42 days.
• At 21 days of the study, two broilers per pen were euthanized and dissected to collect cecal samples. Samples from each pen were pooled to determine bacteria counts of Lactobacillus, Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia coli and Salmonella.

Combination tributyrin & alpha-monobutyrin improves animal performance, production efficiency and economics

After a production cycle of 42 days the broilers in the control group