Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition最新文献

By gaining insight into the rumen microbiota of young lambs, feeding and management strategies of lambs can be optimized to enhance sheep performance. This study examined rumen development, rumen fermentation parameters, and microbial community composition at different stages of lamb growth, specifically on Days 7, 28, and 56. Rumen fermentation parameters, rumen development and rumen microflora of lambs at different days of age were comparatively analyzed. There were significant differences in rumen papilla length between D7, D28 and D56 (p < 0.001), and significant differences in rumen papilla width at D7 compared with D28 and D56 (p < 0.001); There were significant differences in rumen papilla length between D7, D28 and D56 (p < 0.001) and A/P (Acetic acid/Propionic acid) was significantly higher at D7 than D28 and 56 d (p < 0.001); 16S rRNA sequencing revealed distinct shifts in bacterial abundance: the abundance of Fusobacteria at D7 was significantly higher than that at D28 and D56 (p = 0.043); The abundance of Euryarchaeota was significantly higher at D28 than that at D7 (p = 0.023); The abundance of Cyanobacteria and Tenericutes was significantly higher at D56 than that at D7 (p = 0.011; p = 0.038), and the abundance of Melainabacteria was significantly higher at D56 than that at D7 and D28 (p = 0.034); At the genus level, the abundance of unidentified_Prevotellaceae was significantly higher at D28 and D56 than that at D7 (p = 0.036). Additionally, the abundance of Lactobacillus was significantly lower at D28 than that at D7 (p = 0.018); The abundance of Bacteroides was significantly lower at D56 than that in D7 (p = 0.033). In conclusion, with advancing age of lames, their rumen continued to develop, while the rumen microbiota began to stabilize.

Phytosterols are plant-derived natural compounds which resemble in structure with cholesterol. It has been demonstrated that phytosterols significantly affect growth regulation and antioxidant capacity in poultry and pigs; however, their role in ruminants remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of phytosterol lick blocks on growth performance, serum biochemical and rumen fermentation parameters in Tibetan sheep. Fifteen 5-month-old Tibetan sheep (29.16 ± 1.51 kg) were randomly assigned to three treatments: the control (supplemented with no lick blocks, CON), supplemented with basal lick blocks (BLB), or supplemented with phytosterol lick blocks (PLB); The experiment lasted for 64 days including a 14-day adaptation period. Average daily gain (p = 0.011) of Tibetan sheep in the PLB was higher than that in the CON and BLB, while the feed conversion ratio (p = 0.011) was lower. The digestibility of crude protein in the PLB and BLB was higher than that in the CON (p = 0.029). In addition, the PLB had higher total protein levels (p = 0.026) and lower malondialdehyde content (p = 0.037) in serum than other treatments. The activity of glutathione peroxidase (p = 0.040) and superoxide dismutase (p = 0.024) in the PLB was higher than in the CON, but similar to that in the BLB. In terms of rumen fermentation parameters, Tibetan sheep in the PLB had higher microbial crude protein (p = 0.005) and propionate levels (p = 0.015) and had a lower acetate to propionate ratio (p < 0.001). The principal coordinate analysis based on Bray-Curtis distance showed significant separation between the microbial communities of the treatments (p = 0.008), but the alpha diversity did not change among the three treatments. The LEfSe analysis indicated that more bacterial genera were enriched in the PLB than that in the CON and BLB. In summary, the antioxidant capacity of phytosterols has been demonstrated in Tibetan sheep. It may increase the abundance of certain specific bacterial genera to enhance nutrient digestibility, leading to accelerate growth, without altering alpha diversity.

Food allergy is defined as an abnormal immune system response to the ingestion of certain ingredients or food additives. Beta-glucans may support the management of obesity, particularly due to their immunomodulatory properties. However, the possible adverse reactions of this nutraceutical are little known. This report documents an allergic skin reaction in a 6-year-old obese mixed-breed dog after consuming 0.1% purified beta-1,3/1,6-glucans from Saccharomyces Cerevisiae and subsequent dermatological signs after ingesting beta-1,3-glucans from Euglena gracilis. The dog was enrolled in a clinical trial designed to evaluate the effects of two types of beta-glucans on digestive, immunological, and intestinal health in obese dogs. Three nutritionally similar extruded dry diets were utilized: a control (CTL) diet without beta-glucans, beta-glucan A (BGA) containing 0.1% beta-1,3/1,6-glucans, and beta-glucan B (BGB) with 0.1% beta-1,3-glucans. Initially, the dog was deemed healthy, with all clinical parameters being within normal ranges. After a 30-day adaptation period consuming the CTL diet, the dog was randomized to the BGA diet. Within 30 days, the owner reported intense pruritus, alopecia, and erythema in various areas. A nutritional consultation confirmed that the dog had never been exposed to beta-glucans before. The CTL diet was reinstated, resulting in symptom resolution within 1 week. Following a subsequent challenge with the BGA diet, dermatological manifestations reemerged after 14 days but again resolved after returning to the CTL diet. The owner then agreed to a challenge with the BGB diet, leading to the reappearance of clinical signs after 15 days. The CTL diet was reintroduced, resulting in symptom resolution within ten days. However, the owner declined further testing with the BGB diet. This case concludes that the dog exhibited allergic reactions to purified beta-1,3/1,6-glucans from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, while reactions to Euglena gracilis, although highly probable, remain unconfirmed due to the lack of a provocation test.

Diet alters the function and composition of small intestinal epithelial cells, making the relationship between diet and the intestine a focus of much research. This study aimed to clarify the effects of a soft diet on the small intestine. We fed mice a soft pellet diet (SP) and a control hard pellet diet (CD) for 14 days and examined changes in the epithelial cells of the small intestine. We found that the body weights of SP-fed mice were lower than those of CD-fed mice. SP did not alter the length of the small intestine, crypt to villus, or the number of Paneth and Goblet cells, but decreased the expression of small intestinal epithelial cell markers. We also found that SP did not change the copy number of mitochondrial DNA, but decreased the mRNA expression of mitochondrial metabolism genes in SP-fed mice. In addition, we found that E-cadherin, a cell adhesion factor, was decreased in SP-fed mice and that the composition of their microbiota was different from that of CD mice. Our study suggests that SP may impair the homeostasis of small intestine epithelial cells, reinforcing the need for further research on how food texture affects intestinal health.

Extreme environmental variations act as stress factors that disturb homeostasis and reduce the fitness of animals. The outcomes of stress responses range from acclimation to adaptation of animals to stressors. Gene expression patterns shape the neuro-endocrine and cellular signalling involved in these stress responses. Epigenetic modifications are one of the major gene regulatory mechanisms that connect environmental factors and animal response. The dynamic as well as stable modes of epigenetic changes carry the memory of gene regulation at cellular and transgenerational levels. In this review, we highlight the involvement of epigenetic mechanisms in the domestication process, an adaptation to the captive environment and summarize recently identified epigenetic modifications that regulate responses to different environmental stress factors. We underline the possible role of developmentally stable epigenetic mechanisms as the basis for fetal programming methods such as thermal conditioning and prenatal nutritional interventions. These examples indicate the potential scope of understanding epigenetic regulations for improving environmental stress adaptation and performance in domestic animals.

This study investigated the effects of dietary dill essential oil (DEO) at concentrations of 0.5% (DEO0.5), 1% (DEO1), 2% (DEO2) and 3% (DEO3) on rainbow trout juveniles. A total of 300 healthy rainbow trout (20.70 ± 0.19 g), were fed for 60 days across five treatment groups: control, DEO0.5, DEO1, DEO2 and DEO3. The results revealed that the DEO1 and DEO2 treatments significantly improved the growth performance, intestinal enzymes activities, and serum levels of proteins, lysozyme (LYZ), alternative complement (ACH50), total immunoglobulin (total Ig) and antioxidant defence, compared with those in the control group (p < 0.05). Notably, the levels of mucosal LYZ, total Ig, ACH50 and protease were significantly elevated in the DEO1 and DEO2 treatment groups (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the serum levels of lipids, cytosolic enzymes, glucose and cortisol were significantly lower in the DEO1, DEO2 and DEO3 treatment groups (p < 0.05). The DEO2 treatment group presented the lowest serum levels of stress indicators (cortisol and glucose) and cytosolic enzymes. Additionally, the survival in the DEO treatment groups 14 days after challenge with Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila) was significantly higher than that in the control group (p < 0.05), with the DEO2 treatment group showing the highest survivorship. Overall, this study indicates that incorporating DEO at concentrations of 1% and 2% into the diet can substantially enhance growth performance, digestive efficiency, biochemical profiles, immune-antioxidant activity, and resistance to A. hydrophila in rainbow trout juveniles.

This study investigated the impact of corn distillers' dried grains with solubles (cDDGS) on growth performance, faecal score and apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) in weaning pigs by replacing soybean meal (SBM) in the diet. Ninety-six (Duroc × [Landrace × Yorkshire]) weaning pigs with an average body weight (BW) of 6.37 ± 1.10 kg were randomly to 3 groups in a randomized complete design with 8 pens/group and 4 pigs/pen (2 barrows and 2 gilts). Three diets (cDDGS0, cDDGS2.5 and cDDGS5) were formulated using cDDGS to replace 0%, 2.5% and 5% of SBM in the diet. Results found that increasing cDDGS inclusion linearly increased (p < 0.05) the BW, average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and ATTD of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), and gross energy (GE) and linearly reduced (p < 0.05) faecal score. However, feed conversion ratio (FCR) had no significant difference among treatments. In conclusion, cDDGS improved the growth performance and ATTD and reduced faecal score in weaning pigs, and the appreciable benefits seen in the 5% cDDGS group.

Raising rabbit on commercial scale is a significant industry for the production of meat, fur and leather. Rabbits are known to possess high fecundity and good quality meat. The animals utilise low-quality, low-cost diets like forages and agricultural by-products. However, growing rabbits are very prone to digestive problems that cause appetite loss, diarrhoea, slower growth rate and higher mortality rate, especially during the weaning period. Antibiotic growth promoters (AGP), which had been used comprehensively, are avoided because of resultant development of drug resistance in animals and antibiotic residues in animal products. As a result, alternative dietary healthy growth promoters are in high demand. Prebiotics and probiotics are two growth promoters that could replace AGP since they boost effectiveness without having any negative effects on intake. Utilising drugs or antibiotics to produce rabbit resulted in higher final product costs from an economic perspective. Prebiotics are non-fermentable, ingestible fibres and sugars, such as inulin-type fructans, mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS), isomalto-oligosaccharides (IMO), and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), that show immune-stimulating qualities to the host by favourably supporting the growth of some helpful bacteria (probiotics). For instance, supplementation of 3.0 g MOS/kg and 0.5 g IMO/kg to the diet of rabbits has been recommended to improve productivity in rabbits. Numerous studies also demonstrate the positive effects of dietary prebiotics supplements on the gut health, productivity and immunity of broilers. Thus, this review aimed to summarising the results in literature and to draw attention of the stakeholders in rabbit production to the potential impacts of some commercial prebiotics, such as MOS and IMO, on growth effectiveness, carcass characteristics, blood biochemistry, intestinal tract histomorphometries, and the expression of specific relative immune or growth genes.

Variation in nutritional profile and availability of high-quality forages remain primary challenges for efficient heifer rearing on a forage-based diet. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of limit feeding forage-free diet on growth performance, feed efficiency, blood metabolites, behavior, health, and mammary parenchyma of prepubertal dairy heifers. Sixteen prepubertal heifers (Body weight = 168 ± 32Kg) divided into 8 pens (2 heifers/pen) were used in a completely randomized design (n = 4 pen/treatment) to compare the effect of a diet containing 20% forage with a forage-free diet. Limit feeding forage-free diet improved the feed efficiency by 10% and ADG by 11.36% (p ≤ 0.05) without negatively affecting the body measurements, health parameters, and blood metabolites (p ≥ 0.23). In udder, three-quarters of heifers fed a forage-free diet had greater (p ≤ 0.05) mammary parenchyma growth than the heifers fed a 20% forage diet. Teat lengths and behavioral measurements except rumination time were not affected (p > 0.05) by the forage-free diet. Heifers fed a 20% forage diet had greater rumination time (p = 0.01) than the heifers fed a forage-free diet. Limit feeding forage-free diet can be adopted in prepubertal dairy heifers for the improvement in feed efficiency and mammary parenchyma growth.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of diets with different metabolizable energy (ME) levels on broiler growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal score, organ weight and lesion score. A total of 1134 1-day-old Ross broiler chicks with an initial body weight (BW) of 44.33 ± 1.70 g were randomly assigned to three dietary treatment groups. There were 21 replicate pens per treatment, including 18 male birds per pen. The experimental period was divided into 3 phases and the diets were provided to broilers from days 1 to 34 of age: the starter (days 1-7), growing (days 8-20), and finishing (days 21-34). The dietary treatments included CON, basal diet (3200 Kcal/kg), TRT1, basal diet - 50 kcal/kg ME (3150 Kcal/kg), and TRT2, basal diet + 50 kcal/kg ME (3250 kcal/kg). The TRT2 group showed a reduced (p < 0.05) feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to the TRT1 group during the growing phase. During the overall experimental period, TRT2 group broilers showed an increased (p < 0.05) average daily gain (ADG) and a reduced (p < 0.05) FCR than in the TRT1 group. However, there were no differences observed in feed intake (FI) and body weight gain (BWG), nutrient digestibility, fecal score, organ weight and lesion score. In conclusion, feeding a diet at 3250 kcal/kg ME from days 1-34 could be suitable for improving both average daily gain and feed conversion ratio in broiler chickens.