Postprandial plasma amino acid, glucose, and insulin responses in healthy dogs following the consumption of extruded diets containing cricket powder or poultry meal.

Crickets are emerging as a high-quality, sustainable protein alternative to traditional animal-based ingredients in canine nutrition. Although some studies have evaluated the apparent total tract digestibility of macronutrients in canine diets containing cricket powder (CKP), data on the postprandial metabolic effects of CKP are lacking. This study evaluated postprandial plasma glucose, insulin, and amino acid (AA) responses of healthy adult beagles fed extruded diets containing 30% poultry meal (CTRL) or CKP (CKP-D). Eight dogs were enrolled in a crossover design consisting of two experimental periods of 7-d each. On the final day of each period, dogs underwent a postprandial meal response test with serial blood sampling to assess plasma glucose, insulin, and AA kinetics. Data were analyzed using the GLIMMIX procedure in SAS Studio (v3.81) with diet, time, and their interaction as fixed effects in a repeated-measures model. A time effect (P < 0.05) was observed for glucose and insulin, with both peaking from 60 to 180 min following meal consumption. Except for maximum glucose concentrations, which were greater (P < 0.05) in dogs fed CKP-D, no differences (P > 0.05) between diets were detected for other glucose or insulin parameters. Concentrations of all AA, except Gln, were influenced (P < 0.05) by the consumption of a meal. Dogs consuming CKP-D had greater (P < 0.05) plasma concentrations of most AA, including Arg, His, Ile, Leu, Lys, Met, Thr, and Val. Moreover, incremental areas under the curve (iAUC) were greater (P < 0.05) for Ile, Leu, Val, and the sum of branched-chain AA in dogs fed CKP-D, whereas iAUC for Gly was greater (P < 0.05) for CTRL. Overall, AA in the CKP-D appeared to have greater postprandial plasma bioavailability than that in CTRL. Further research is warranted to investigate the mechanisms underlying these responses.