Bioavailability of different dietary supplemental methionine sources in animals

Dietary methionine is indispensable for animal maintenance, growth and development. L-methionine (L-Met), and its synthetic forms DL-methionine (DL-Met) and 2-hydroxy-4 (methylthio) butanoic acid (HMTBA) are common supplemental methionine sources in animal diets. There are different characteristics for cellular absorption, transport, metabolism and bio-efficiency between these three dietary methionine sources. Moreover, there are differences in their utilization among various species such as chickens, pigs and ruminants. As a methionine precursor, HMTBA is efficacious in the promotion of growth in animals. It is absorbed mainly by monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1), coupled with the activity of the Na(+)/H(+) exchanger (NHE3), while DL-Met uptake occurs via multiple carrier-mediated systems. Liver, kidney and small intestine can metabolize D-Met and HMTBA to L-Met through oxidation and transamination. In ruminants, the non-hepatic tissues act as major sites of HMTBA conversion, which are different from that in chickens and pigs. HMTBA also has additional benefits in anti-oxidation. Understanding the characteristics of uptake and metabolism of different methionine sources will greatly benefit the industry and bioscience research.