Effect of Guanidinoacetic acid, a creatine precursor, in gestating and lactating sows

The creatine/phosphocreatine system plays an important role to supply energy on short notice, especially to tissues that have a high and variable energy demand. Creatine is produced in the body using glycine and arginine. However, endogenous synthesis of creatine has limitations and dietary intake of creatine is needed. Dietary supplementation of creatine is not possible in the diets that undergo pelleting because it is not heat-stable. Guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) is the immediate metabolic precursor of creatine and is heat tolerant. Guanidinoacetic acid is frequently used in animal feed as a source of creatine. The benefits of dietary supplementation of GAA to broilers and growing pigs are extensively reported in the literature. The gestating and lactating sows undergo periods of high energy demand where supplementation of GAA can improve energy efficiency and consequently improve the productivity of the sow and its offspring. We investigated the effect of dietary supplementation of GAA in gestating and lactating sows in three independent studies. We observed that when GAA was fed during the full gestation there was an increase in the number of pigs born alive (study 1 and 2) and when it was fed during the last two-thirds of the gestation period there was an increase in the pig body weight at birth (study 3). In the three studies, we observed that sows supplemented with GAA during lactation had heavier litters at weaning. In study 1, we observed a higher protein and amino acid concentration in the colostrum of sows fed GAA. The present studies demonstrated that supplementation of GAA to gestating and lactating sows can improve sow and litter performance.