Effect of diet containing phytate and phytase on the activity and messenger ribonucleic acid expression of carbohydrase and transporter in chickens

Abstract

The effect of dietary phytate and phytase on carbohydrase activity and hexose transport was investigated in broiler chickens. Diets containing phytate P (2.2 or 4.4 g/kg) with different phytase dose rates (0, 500, or 1,000 phytase units/kg) were fed to 504 female Cobb chicks for 3 wk. Diets containing high phytate concentrations depressed (P < 0.05) BW and G:F, whereas phytase supplementation improved (P < 0.05) the performance of birds. In the duodenum, phytate decreased (P < 0.05) the activities of disaccharidases, Na⁺K⁺-ATPase, and glucose concentrations by 5 to 11%, but phytase enhanced (P < 0.05) the concentrations of amylase, sucrase, maltase, Na⁺K⁺-ATPase, and glucose by 5 to 30%. In the jejunum, phytate decreased (P < 0.05) the concentrations of amylase, sucrase, Na⁺K⁺-ATPase, and glucose by 10 to 22%, and phytase alleviated the negative effect of phytate on the above variables. Ingestion of diets containing phytate also decreased (P < 0.05) serum amylase activity and glucose concentration, and phytase enhanced (P < 0.05) serum concentrations of amylase, sucrase, maltase, Na⁺K⁺-ATPase, and glucose. There were also interactions (P < 0.05) between phytate and phytase on the concentrations of serum amylase, duodenal amylase, sucrase, and jejunal glucose. Enzymatic analysis at a molecular level showed that neither phytate nor phytase influenced the mRNA expression of sucrase-isomaltase in the small intestine. Also, the investigation into the sodium glucose cotransporter gene may challenge the mechanism by which phytate interferes with glucose utilization, as partly indicated by bird performance, and transmembrane transport because diets containing increased phytate upregulated (P < 0.05) the mRNA expression of the sodium glucose cotransporter gene in duodenum and did not influence it in the jejunum. These results indicate that phytate can impair endogenous carbohydrase activity and digestive competence, and phytase can ameliorate these effects for chickens.