Dihydropyridine is a novel, green, and multifunctional feed additive with broad biological functions. It is used in medicine as a preventive and therapeutic agent for cardiovascular diseases, with effects such as treating fatty liver, toxic hepatitis, anti-aging, and preventing precocious puberty. Further scientific research has revealed that dihydropyridine promotes animal growth, improves fur quality, increases lean meat rate, enhances reproductive performance, and provides disease prevention and resistance.
Dihydropyridine was first synthesized and applied by former Soviet scientists. Due to its similarity to the natural antioxidant vitamin E, it was initially used in the 1930s primarily as an antioxidant for animal and vegetable oils. In the 1970s, experts from Latvia in the former Soviet Union (Valdman A R et al., 1997) discovered its growth-promoting effects in livestock and poultry. Since then, countries worldwide have conducted related research and found that dihydropyridine promotes the growth of livestock and poultry, improves the quality of animal products, enhances reproductive performance, and provides disease prevention. Research on dihydropyridine in China began in the early 1980s, and several manufacturers now produce and apply it in bulk, achieving significant experimental results.
Dihydropyridine inhibits the peroxidation of lipid compounds, thereby preventing the oxidation of biological membranes and protecting tissue cells in the body. It shares some functions of the natural antioxidant vitamin E. As a result, it can increase the daily weight gain of livestock such as cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, and quails, particularly improving the conception rate of dairy cows, the semen quality of breeding bulls, and the fertilization rate of breeding broilers. It also inhibits fat formation in animals and increases the lean meat ratio of carcasses.