LAUSR

ABSTRACT The intestinal health of chick embryos is vital for their life-long growth, and exogenous nutrition intervention may provide sufficient nutrition for embryonic development. In the present study, we investigated the effect of in ovo injection of L-methionine (L-Met) on the intestinal structure and barrier function of chick embryos. There were 4 groups of treatments: the control (CON) group injected with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and the other 3 groups injected with 5, 10, and 20 mg L-Met/egg, respectively. The injection was performed on embryonic day 9 (E9), and intestinal samples were collected on the day of hatching for analysis. The results showed that, compared with the CON group, the groups administered an in ovo injection of L-Met increased relative weights of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum (P