Weeks | Diets1 | SEM2 | P-value |
---|
PC | NC | L25 | L50 | LB25 | LB50 |
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Week 1 | 1.50 ± 0.20 | 1.37 ± 0.20 | 1.37 ± 0.20 | 1.37 ± 0.20 | 1.00a$* ± 0.22 | 0.50b¥ ± 0.20 | 0.09 | 0.012 |
Week 2 | 1.00 ± 0.23 | 0.37 ± 0.23 | 0.50 ± 0.23 | 0.50 ± 0.23 | 0.75 ± 0.23 | 0.50 ± 0.23 | 0.09 | 0.420 |
Week 3 | 0.25 ± 0.16 | 0.12 ± 0.16 | 0.37 ± 0.16 | 0.29 ± 0.17 | 0.37 ± 0.16 | 0.12 ± 0.16 | 0.06 | 0.779 |
Week 4 | 0.29 ± 0.13 | 0.25 ± 0.12 | 0.50 ± 0.12 | 0.0 ± 0.13 | 0.0 ± 0.12 | 0.0 ± 0.12 | 0.06 | 0.033 |
- 1 PC (positive control), standard protein diet; NC (negative control), low protein diet supplemented with limiting amino acids (LAA, i.e., Lys, Met, Thr and Trp); L25, low protein diet supplemented with LAA, 25% more than NRC (2012) requirements; L50: low protein diet supplemented with LAA 50% more than NRC requirements; LB25: low protein diets supplemented with LAA and branched-chain amino acids (BCAA, i.e., Leu, Ile and Val) 25% more than NRC requirements; LB50: low protein diet supplemented with LAA and BCAA 50% more than NRC requirements. Fecal samples were scored according to: 0 = formed, normal; 1 = soft, wet cement consistency; 2 = runny or watery; 3 = mucoid diarrhea; 4 = bloody diarrhea. The P-values for the overall model effect for diet, week and diet × week were 0.053, < 0.01 and 0.13 respectively. a P ≤ 0.05 LB25 vs. PC, b P ≤ 0.05 LB50 vs. PC, $ P ≤ 0.1 LB25 vs. NC, * P ≤ 0.1 LB25 vs. L25, ¥ P ≤ 0.1 LB50 vs. L50. The values are the means ± SE. n = 8
- 2 SEM: standard errors of means