A recent association between the inclusion of pulses in canine diets and taurine deficiency has become a prevalent issue in the pet food industry. Although there is not a nutritional requirement for taurine by dogs, the appearance of taurine deficiencies has been related with more serious health issues, such as dilated cardiomyopathy. The objective of this study was to determine the circulating concentrations of plasma and whole blood taurine, indispensable and dispensable amino acid concentrations in the plasma, and taurine and creatinine concentrations in the urine of adult dogs fed a green lentil diet. Twelve, adult, female beagles were randomly assigned to a diet containing 45% green lentils (GLD) or a poultry byproduct meal diet (CON) for 90 days. Fresh urine samples were collected every 30 d and analyzed for taurine and creatinine concentrations. A blood sample also was collected every 30 d and analyzed for amino acids including taurine. Animal procedures were approved by the University of Illinois Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. All diets were formulated to meet or exceed the nutrient requirements outlined by AAFCO (2018) and all dogs remained healthy throughout the study. The concentrations of taurine in the plasma and whole blood showed no differences (P > 0.05) between dietary treatments or across time points. Similarly, no differences (P > 0.05) in plasma methionine concentrations were observed between treatments or across time points. A treatment effect (P < 0.05) showed dogs fed GLD had higher total primary fecal bile acid (BA) excretion compared with dogs fed CON. The differential abundance of fecal microbial communities showed Firmicutes as the predominant phyla in dogs fed both GLD and CON, with Bacteroidaceae, Erysipelotrichaceae, and Lactobacillaecae as predominant families in dogs fed GLD. The α-diversity of dogs fed GLD ( P < 0.05) was lower than in dogs fed CON. These data suggest that the inclusion of 45% green lentil in extruded diets does not lower whole blood and plasma taurine concentrations during a 90 d period and is appropriate for use in a complete and balanced formulation for dogs.

中文翻译：

---

饲喂绿扁豆饮食的狗牛磺酸和氨基酸浓度的纵向评估

最近，犬类饮食中包含豆类与牛磺酸缺乏之间的关联已成为宠物食品行业的一个普遍问题。尽管狗对牛磺酸没有营养需求，但牛磺酸缺乏的出现与更严重的健康问题有关，例如扩张型心肌病。本研究的目的是确定饲喂绿扁豆饮食的成年犬的血浆和全血牛磺酸的循环浓度、血浆中必需和非必需氨基酸的浓度以及尿液中牛磺酸和肌酐的浓度。12 只成年雌性小猎犬被随机分配到含有 45% 绿扁豆 (GLD) 的饮食或家禽副产品膳食 (CON) 的饮食中，为期 90 天。每 30 天收集一次新鲜尿液样本并分析牛磺酸和肌酐浓度。每 30 天采集一次血样并分析包括牛磺酸在内的氨基酸。动物程序得到了伊利诺伊大学机构动物护理和使用委员会的批准。所有饮食的配制均满足或超过 AAFCO (2018) 概述的营养要求，并且所有狗在整个研究过程中都保持健康。血浆和全血中牛磺酸的浓度在饮食治疗之间或跨时间点没有显示差异(P＞0.05)。类似地，在治疗之间或跨时间点观察到血浆甲硫氨酸浓度没有差异(P＞0.05)。治疗效果（P＜0.05）显示，与饲喂CON的狗相比，饲喂GLD的狗具有更高的初级粪便胆汁酸（BA）排泄总量。粪便微生物群落丰度的差异表明，厚壁菌门是饲喂 GLD 和 CON 的狗的主要门，而拟杆菌科、丹毒菌科和乳杆菌科是饲喂 GLD 的狗的主要科。喂食 GLD 的狗的 α 多样性（P < 0.05）低于喂食 CON 的狗。这些数据表明，在挤压饲料中添加 45% 绿扁豆在 90 天期间不会降低全血和血浆牛磺酸浓度，并且适合用于狗的完整且均衡的配方。