Natural Alternative To Combat Fatty Liver Syndrome In Poultry

 

A healthy liver is a vital part of nutrient metabolism, vitamin storage, vitamin D activation, and removal of waste and toxins. At present, Fatty Liver Syndrome is considered one of the top non-infectious idiopathic diseases that cause mortality in poultry. Possible causes in most cases are nutritional, genetic, environmental, or hormonal factors or a combination of these factors. A chicken liver has to be able to deal with the higher metabolic requirements for modern poultry productivity. Lipoprotein synthesis takes place in the liver. Hence, lack of lipoprotein formation results in large amounts of lipid accumulation in the liver of poultry, leading to a fatty liver.

Upon onset of egg-laying in hens, lipids including free fatty acids, triglycerides, and phospholipids are increased in blood plasma for the synthesis of yolk precursors in oocytes. In many cases, the liver of highly productive hens with fatty liver exhibits hemorrhagic syndrome due to the heavy demands of yolk synthesis, which burdens the liver. Lipid metabolism and hepatic lipid disorders are key points in not only the growth but also the production of chicken.

 

How can you differentiate between Healthy and Fatty liver?

Healthy poultry liver: It appears in uniform dark brown colour. It also can account for up to 4% of the bird’s body weight. During lay, it’s common for the liver to naturally change its colour and become more pale/yellow or even chestnut brown.

Fatty liver: It shows a pale-yellow colour of the liver associated with the haemorrhage (blood spots). The liver is usually enlarged, putty coloured, and friable.

 

The Two most common conditions are:

 

Fatty Liver Haemorrhagic Syndrome (FLHS):

Fatty liver haemorrhagic syndrome (FLHS) is a pathological state of the liver in layers, with features of a metabolic disorder that is expressed in haemorrhages in the liver tissue and the development of steatosis.

Causes: excessive dietary energy intake, and heredity may also be a cause. Birds housed in cages will likely be affected because they cannot exercise to burn off the extra dietary energy.

 

Fatty Liver and Kidney Syndrome (FLKS):

Fatty Liver and Kidney Syndrome is due to nutritional/ Metabolic problems. Primarily observed in the young ones of the birds.

Causes: deficiency of biotin, choline, low level of fat in feed, stress, age, aflatoxin in feed, and oxidizing agent in feed.

Choline is a “quasi-vitamin” and is involved in the metabolic pathway of the formation of phosphatidylcholine, the main component of the cell membrane and lipoproteins. Phosphatidylcholine is a central metabolite in the functions associated with choline. Choline is a rediscovered critical amino acid and essential nutrient for poultry, which is usually added to poultry diets in the form of synthetic choline chloride Adding synthetic choline chloride in the ration is a common practice in broiler farming. However, it has several demerits:

• Highly hygroscopic and corrosive
• Poor absorption rate
• Loss of vitamins
• Accumulation of trimethylamine (TMA) in the gut of the bird developing a fishy taint in the edible tissues of the broiler

 

Hence, AN ALTERNATIVE TO SYNTHETIC CHOLINE CHLORIDE is being extensively investigated. Many herbs possess choline-like properties and may exert outstanding effects when added to the ration of the birds.

 

VinCholine

 

VinCholine is a “Natural Source of Choline Conjugates” that can replace synthetic choline in feed. The phytogenic active conjugates of choline in VinCholine have intrinsic bio-actives on liver physiology and metabolism and ensure maximum bioavailability. The essential fatty acids, phospholipids, and other metabolites play a significant role in the metabolism, enzymatic modulation, and biosynthesis of a natural form of choline. It is an excellent product that regulates lipid metabolism and plays a significant role in the mobilization of excess abdominal fat.

 

Benefits: