Application of Hydroxy Methionine Copper 1

Product Applications

1) Broilers

When MMHACs (hydroxy methionine chelates of copper, zinc, and manganese) were added to broiler diets, results showed that—compared with traditional inorganic trace minerals—the inclusion of MMHACs significantly increased body weight and drumstick (thigh) muscle weight, improved copper digestibility, and did not exert any negative effects on gizzard or bone health.

Table 1 .Carcass processing weight (g/bird) and woody breast and breast white striping scores of broilers fed inorganic and methionine hydroxyl analogue chelated zinc, copper, and manganese dietary treatment sat day 42.

Item	ITM	M10	T125	M30	SEM	P-Value
Breast	684	716	719	713	14.86	0.415
Thigh	397	413	412	425	7.29	0.078
Drumstick	320	335	332	340	4.68	0.058
Thigh and drumstick	717 a	748 ab	745 ab	765 b	11.32	0.050
Fat pad	32.3	33.1	33.4	35.5	1.59	0.546
Liver	68.0	67.4	66.0	71.1	2.41	0.528
Heart	18.8	18.6	19.2	19.2	0.68	0.898
Kidney	9.49	10.2	10.6	10.6	0.51	0.413

Note: ITM: Inorganic trace mineral 110 ppm Zn as ZnSO4 16 ppm Cu as CuSO4 and120 ppm Mn as MnO per Ross 308 nutritional recommendations;

M10: Amounts of 40 ppm Zn 10 ppm Cu and 40 ppm Mn as chelate ;

T125: Inorganic trace mineral 110 ppm Zn as ZnSO4 and 120 ppm Mn as MnO per Ross 308 guidelines with 125 ppm Cu as tribasic copper chloride (TBCC);

M30 = 40 ppm Zn, 30 ppm Cu, and 40 ppm Mn as chelate. Values in the same row with different superscripts differ significantly (P < 0.05).

2) Swines

A study investigated the effects of partially replacing inorganic trace minerals with mineral methionine hydroxy analogue chelates (MMHAC) in sow diets on both sows and their piglets. Results showed that MMHAC supplementation reduced body weight loss in lactating sows, promoted piglet body weight gain at day 18, significantly enhanced skeletal muscle histone acetylation levels at birth, and downregulated the expression of multiple inflammation- and muscle development–related genes. Overall, MMHAC improved intestinal health and muscle development in piglets through epigenetic and developmental regulation, enhancing their growth potential.

Table 2 Supplemental effects of mineral methionine hydroxy analogue chelate in sow diets on expression of key mRNA related to jejunal inflammation in suckling piglet

Item	ITM	CTM	SEM	P- value
d 1 of lactation x 10^-5
IL-8	1344	1018	178	0.193
MUC2	5380	5511	984	0.925
NF-κB (p50)	701	693	93	0.944
NF-κB (p105)	1991	1646	211	0.274
TGF-b1	From 1991	1600	370	0.500
TNF-α	11	7	2	0.174
d 18 of lactation x 10^-5
IL-8	1134	787	220	0.262
MUC2	5773	3871	722	0.077

Note:Interleukin-8 (IL-8), mucin-2 (MUC2), nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), transforming growth factor-1 (TGF-1), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)

ITM = conventional inorganic sources of trace minerals (0.2% inclusion level in the diets)

CTM = 50:50 mineral methionine hydroxy analogue chelate and inorganic minerals (0.2% inclusion level in the diets)

3) Ruminants

In lactating dairy cows, replacing half of copper sulfate with hydroxy methionine copper significantly increased plasma copper concentration, improved the digestibility of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF), and enhanced both milk yield and 4% fat-corrected milk production. These findings indicate that partially replacing copper sulfate with (HMTBA)₂-Cu in dairy cow diets is a more efficient nutritional strategy.

Table 3 Effects of methionine hydroxy Cu [(HMTBA)2-Cu] on the milk composition of cows

Item	S	SM	M	SEM	P-value
DMI, kg/d	19.2	20.3	19.8	0.35	0.23
Milk yield, kg/d	28.8	33.8	31.3	1.06	0.08
Fat, %	3.81	3.74	3.75	0.06	0.81
Protein, %	3.34	3.28	3.28	0.04	0.19
Lactose, %	4.48	4.35	4.43	0.05	0.08
SNF, %	8.63	8.84	8.63	0.05	0.33
Fat yield, kg/d	1.04	1.22	1.10	0.04	0.09
Protein yield, kg/d	0.92	0.92	0.90	0.03	0.72
Lactose yield, kg/d	1.23	1.23	1.21	0.04	0.45
Urea N, mg/dL	18.39	17.70	18.83	0.45	0.19
4% FCM, kg/d	26.1	30.1	27.5	0.91	0.06

Treatments: S = Cu sulfate only: 12 mg of Cu provided by CuSO4 per kilogram of concentrate; SM = Cu sulfate and (HMTBA)2-Cu: 6 mg of Cu provided by CuSO4, and another 6 mg of Cu provided by (HMTBA)2-Cu per kilogram of concentrate; M = (HMTBA)2-Cu only: 12 mg of Cu provided by (HMTBA)2-Cu per kilogram of concentrate.