Effects of an Herbal Source of Choline on Diet Digestibility and Palatability, Blood Lipid Profile, Liver Morphology, and Cardiac Function in Dogs

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Choline is an essential nutrient for dogs, and its dietary supplementation is usually made using choline chloride. However, this compound is highly hygroscopic—meaning it absorbs moisture from the air—which makes it difficult to manipulate during animal food production. Stable herbal additives rich in phosphatidylcholine may be used as an alternative source of choline. In light of this, this study compared the effects of an herbal source of choline with choline chloride on diet digestibility and palatability, blood metabolites, liver morphology, and cardiac function in adult dogs. Our results suggest that the herbal source of choline is a possible substitute for choline chloride in dog diets, in addition to reducing the activity of liver enzymes, total cholesterol, and serum triglycerides. This study is relevant to the pet food market since it concerns pet owners interested in natural alternative foods. ABSTRACT: We aimed to evaluate the effects of an herbal source of choline on the coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD), diet palatability, fecal characteristics, blood variables, liver morphology, and cardiac function of dogs. Sixteen adult dogs were randomly assigned to two groups (n = 8) which were fed two different diets for 45 days: control, containing 0.28% choline chloride 60, and test, containing 0.14% of an herbal source of choline. Feces were collected between days 39 and 44 to determine nutrient CTTAD and fecal characteristics. On days 0 and 45, blood samples were collected and the liver morphology was evaluated. Cardiac function, in turn, was evaluated only on day 45, and the palatability test was performed on two consecutive days (n = 32). There were no changes in nutrient CTTAD, diet palatability, or fecal characteristics of dogs fed the test diet (p > 0.05). However, on day 45, dogs fed the test diet showed lower (p < 0.05) serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, alkaline phosphatase, and alanine aminotransferase when compared to the control group. We concluded that the herbal source of choline can be a possible substitute for choline chloride in dog nutrition.