Reduced intake of dietary lysine promotes accumulation of intramuscular fat in the Longissimus dorsi muscles of finishing gilts

The present study was conducted to elucidate the effect of dietary lysine levels on the intramuscular fat (IMF) content in the Longissimus dorsi (L. dorsi) muscles of finishing gilts. Eleven gilts in total from two litters of pigs aged 110 days were used. The average initial bodyweight of the pigs was 61.7 kg. Six pigs were assigned to the low lysine (LL) diet group (lysine content: 0.43 or 0.40%) and five pigs were assigned to the control group (lysine content: 0.65 or 0.68%). The diets were iso‐energetic and iso‐protein, and contained all essential amino acids (apart from lysine) in the recommended amounts. The pigs were fed these diets until their live weights reached 110 kg. Live weight gain and feed efficiency tended to be lower in the LL group (P = 0.118 and P = 0.052, respectively). Pigs from the LL group took 5 days longer to reach 110 kg (P < 0.01). The IMF content in the L. dorsi of the LL group was twice as high as that of the control group (6.7 vs 3.5%; P < 0.01). The percentage of oleic acid in the L. dorsi of the LL group tended to be higher than that of the control group (P = 0.052), whereas the percentage of linoleic acid and the total percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the L. dorsi were lower (P < 0.05) in the LL group. Free L‐carnitine content in the L. dorsi was lower (P < 0.05) in the LL group. The average abundance of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma mRNA in the L. dorsi of the LL group was threefold higher than that of the control group. The leptin mRNA abundance in the L. dorsi of the LL group was 3.3‐fold higher than that of the control group (P < 0.01). These results suggest that a higher activity of adipogenesis may have been involved in the promoted accumulation of IMF in the L. dorsi muscles of pigs, induced by a dietary LL level.