The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 127 No. 12 December 1997, pp. 2371-2376
Copyright ©1997 by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences

Diet-Induced Thermogenesis in Cockerels Is Modulated by Genetic Selection for High or Low Residual Feed Intake

Jean-François Gabarrou^*, , Pierre-André Géraert^*, Michel Picard^*, and André Bordas

^* Station de Recherches Avicoles, INRA, 37380 Nouzilly, France and  Laboratoire de Génétique Factorielle, INRA, 78352 Jouy-en-Josas, France

Energy balance of adult cockerels genetically selected for high (R+) or low (R) residual feed consumption was investigated by using indirect calorimetry. Although no between-line difference was found in digestion of ingested energy, the true metabolizable energy (ME) intake was 40% greater in R+ than in R birds. Basal heat production (HP) did not significantly differ between genotypes. Diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT) was significantly enhanced in R+ compared with R birds, i.e., +84% when expressed as the difference in kilojoules of heat production determined in feed-deprived and fed cockerels, +31% when calculated as a percentage of ME intake (P < 0.01). The difference in DIT calculated from the regression between HP and physical activity explained 75% of the difference in HP; the remaining 25% could be explained by activity-related HP. The results cannot be explained by differences in the plasma concentration of circulating thyroid hormones: plasma thyroxine concentration did not differ between genotypes, whereas plasma triiodothyronine concentration was lower in feed-deprived R+ than in R birds and indistinguishable in fed birds of the two lines. Heat production, however, was higher in the R+ line. Propranolol decreased HP only in the R+ line, suggesting a -adrenergic control of DIT at least in cockerels of this line. Plasma triglyceride concentration was lower in the R+ than in the R line in fed cockerels, and plasma nonesterified fatty acid concentration was higher in the R+ than in the R line in feed-deprived cockerels. These results are consistent with the leanness of the R+ compared with the R line. The R+ and R lines constitute an original model of diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT), a process that is under genetic control of appetite and allows R+ birds to balance all of their excessive energy intake without any adipose tissue storage.

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