Disruption of female reproductive function by endotoxins

Endotoxemia can be caused by obesity, environmental chemical exposure, abiotic stressors, and bacterial infection. Circumstances that deleteriously impact intestinal barrier integrity can induce endotoxemia and controlled experiments have identified negative impacts of lipopolysaccharide (LPS; an endotoxin mimetic) on folliculogenesis, puberty onset, estrus behavior, ovulation, meiotic competence, luteal function and ovarian steroidogenesis. In addition, neonatal LPS exposures have transgenerational female reproductive impacts, raising concern about early life contacts to this endogenous reproductive toxicant. Aims of this review are to identify physiological stressors causing endotoxemia, to highlight potential mechanism(s) by which LPS compromises female reproduction, and identify knowledge gaps regarding how acute and/or metabolic endotoxemia influence(s) female reproduction

Effects of oil and natural or synthetic vitamin E on ruminal and milk fatty acid profiles in cows receiving a high-starch diet

Among trans fatty acids, trans-10,cis-12 CLA has negative effects on cow milk fat production and can affect human health. In high-yielding dairy cows, a shift from the trans-11 to the trans-10 pathway of biohydrogenation (BH) can occur in the rumen of cows receiving high-concentrate diets, especially when the diet is supplemented with unsaturated fat sources. In some but not all experiments, vitamin E has been shown to control this shift. To ascertain the effects of vitamin E on this shift of BH pathway, 2 studies were conducted. The first study explored in vitro the effects of addition of natural (RRR-α-tocopherol acetate) and synthetic (dl-α-tocopherol acetate) vitamin E. Compared with control and synthetic vitamin E, the natural form resulted in a greater trans-10/trans-11 ratio; however, the effect was very low, suggesting that vitamin E was neither a limiting factor for rumen BH nor a modulator of the BH pathway. An in vivo study investigated the effect of natural vitamin E (RRR-α-tocopherol) on this shift and subsequent milk fat depression. Six rumenfistulated lactating Holstein cows were assigned to a 2 × 2 crossover design. Cows received 20-kg DM of a control diet based on corn silage with 22% of wheat, and after 2 wk of adaptation, the diet was supplemented with 600 g of sunflower oil for 2 more weeks. During the last week of this 4-wk experimental period, cows were divided into 2 groups: an unsupplemented control group and a group receiving 11 g of RRR-α-tocopherol acetate per day. A trans-10 shift of ruminal BH associated with milk fat depression due to oil supplementation of a high-wheat diet was observed, but vitamin E supplementation of dairy cows did not result in a reversal toward a trans-11 BH pathway, and did not restore milk fat content

Leaky Gut’s Contribution to Inefficient Nutrient Utilization

There are a variety of situations in an animal’s life when nutrient utilization is reprioritized from productive towards agriculturally unproductive purposes. Two well-known examples that markedly reduce production are heat stress and ketosis. Decreased feed intake, experienced during both disorders, is unable to fully explain production losses. Additionally, both disorders are characterized by negative energy balance, body weight loss, inflammation, and liver fat accumulation. While the metabolism of ketosis and heat stress has been thoroughly studied for the last 40 years, the initial insult in the cascade of events ultimately reducing productivity in both heat-stressed and ketotic cows has not been identified. To that end, we have generated preliminary data strongly implicating a metabolic disruptor, endotoxin, as the underlying cause in each case

Starch and oil in the donor cow diet and starch in substrate differently affect the in vitro ruminal biohydrogenation of linoleic and linolenic acids

Trans isomers of fatty acids exhibit different health properties. Among them, trans-10,cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid has negative effects on milk fat production and can affect human health. A shift from the trans-11 to the trans-10 pathway of biohydrogenation (BH) can occur in the rumen of dairy cows receiving high-concentrate diets, especially when the diet is supplemented with highly unsaturated fat sources. The differences of BH patterns between linoleic acid (LeA) and linolenic acid (LnA) in such ruminal conditions remain unknown; thus, the aim of this work was to investigate in vitro the effects of starch and sunflower oil in the diet of the donor cows and starch level in the incubates on the BH patterns and efficiencies of LeA and LnA. The design was a 4 × 4 Latin square design with 4 cows, 4 periods, and 4 diets with combinations of 21 or 34% starch and 0 or 5% sunflower oil. The rumen content of each cow during each period was incubated with 4 substrates, combining 2 starch levels and either LeA or LnA addition. Capillary electrophoresis single-strand conformation polymorphism of incubates showed that dietary starch decreased the diversity of the bacterial community and the high-starch plus oil diet modified its structure. High-starch diets poorly affected isomerization and first reduction of LeA and LnA, but decreased the efficiencies of trans-11,cis-15-C18:2 and trans C18:1 reduction. Dietary sunflower oil increased the efficiency of LeA isomerization but decreased the efficiency of trans C18:1 reduction. An interaction between dietary starch and dietary oil resulted in the highest trans-10 isomers production in incubates when the donor cow received the high-starch plus oil diet. The partition between trans-10 and trans-11 isomers was also affected by an interaction between starch level and the fatty acid added to the incubates, showing that the trans-10 shift only occurred with LeA, whereas LnA was mainly hydrogenated via the more usual trans-11 pathway, whatever the starch level in the substrate, although the bacterial communities were not different between LeA and LnA incubates. In LeA incubates, trans-10 isomer production was significantly related to the structure of the bacterial community

Effect of the ratio of zinc amino acid complex to zinc sulfate on the performance of Holstein cows

Multiparous (n = 70) and primiparous (n = 66) Holstein cows were balanced by 305-d previous mature-equivalent milk yield and parity and assigned to 1 of 3 dietary treatments to evaluate the ratio of zinc sulfate to zinc amino acid complex (CZ) in pre- and postpartum Holstein cows fed diets containing 75 mg of added zinc/kg. Treatments were (1) 75 mg of supplemental zinc/kg of dry matter (DM) provided entirely as zinc sulfate (0-CZ); (2) 0-CZ diet, except 33.3 mg of zinc sulfate/kg of DM in the prepartum and 15.5 mg of zinc sulfate/kg of DM in the postpartum diet were replaced by CZ from Availa-Zn (16-CZ; Zinpro Corp., Eden Prairie MN); and (3) 0-CZ diet, except 66.6 mg of zinc sulfate/kg of DM in the prepartum and 40.0 mg of zinc sulfate/kg of DM in the postpartum diet was replaced by Availa-Zn (40-CZ). Cows were housed at the Iowa State University Dairy Farm and were individually offered a total mixed ration containing dietary treatments beginning at 28 +/- 15 d before expected calving date until 250 d in milk. Relative to 0-CZ, multiparous cows (but not primiparous) fed CZ (16-CZ or 40-CZ) had increased (20%) colostrum IgG concentrations. Prepartum DM intake (DMI) was decreased with CZ supplementation. Postpartum DMI was decreased in cows fed CZ, whereas milk yield (MY) was increased in the 40-CZ-fed cows relative to those fed both 0-CZ and 16-CZ. Feed efficiency increased linearly when measured as MY/DMI, 3.5% fat-corrected MY/DMI, and solids-corrected MY/DMI. Regardless of level, feeding CZ decreased services per conception. Feeding 16-CZ decreased milk fat concentration and feeding CZ linearly increased milk urea nitrogen concentration. In summary, supplementing zinc as a mixture of CZ and zinc sulfate, as opposed to supplementing only zinc sulfate, has beneficial effects on production parameters in dairy cows, with those benefits becoming more apparent as the ratio of CZ to zinc sulfate increases

Ornamental plants: a summary of research, 1993-1994

Aesthetic evaluation of crabapples at the Secrest Arboretum in Wooster, Ohio: 1993-1994 / Erik A. Draper and James A. Chatfield -- Evaluation of crabapples for apple scab at the Secrest Arboretum in Wooster, Ohio: 1993-1994 / James A. Chatfield and Erik A. Draper -- The Ohio State University Water Quality Assessment Program / Mary Ann Rose, John Peterson and Laura Kramer -- Root rot of Taxus spp in Ohio caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi / Michael A. Ellis, Sally A. Miller, August F. Schmitthenner and Kenneth D. Cochran -- Winter injury on woody ornamental plants in Ohio: the winter of 1993-1994 / T. Davis Sydnor, James A. Chatfield, Randall H. Zondag, Pamela J. Bennett, Joseph F. Boggs, Kenneth D. Cochran -- Ornamental plant problems in Ohio: 1994 / James A. Chatfield, David J. Shetlar, Nancy Taylor, Joseph F. Boggs, Pamela J. Bennett, Randall H. Zondag, Michael A. Ellis, Allen Baumgard -- Ornamental plant problems in Ohio: 1993 / James A. Chatfield, Joseph F. Boggs, Paul Kauffman, David J. Shetlar, Nancy Taylor, Randall H. Zonda

Methods for reproductive tract scoring as a tool for improving sow productivity

Improving sow lifetime productivity (SLP) is essential for maximizing farm profitability. Study objectives were to determine the accuracy for different vulva scoring methods in a commercial production system and to assess whether gilt reproductive tract scoring (evaluated by vulva width; VW) prior to puberty could serve as useful gilt selection criteria. To accomplish this objective, 958 prepubertal replacement gilts in a commercial system were evaluated at approximately 15 weeks of age. Gilt body weight was recorded in addition to four different methods to evaluate VW. Methods for VW assessment included digital caliper measurement (mm), visual evaluation and scoring by trained farm personnel (Farm Score; FS), and two methods using scoring tools (Vulva Score Method A and B; VSA and VSB, respectively) specifically calibrated from the VW distribution measured on gilts from previous studies. The VSA and FS methods assigned gilts to one of three categories (S, M, L and 1, 2, 3, respectively) whereas VSB classified gilts vulvas using a five-point scoring system (1 to 5). At 15-wk of age, a low proportion of variability in vulva size (27.8 ± 0.1 mm) could be explained by BW (62.2 ± 0.2 kg; R2 = 0.05). All three scoring methods were effective in categorizing gilts based upon VW, as the measured VW size within methods differed by score (P \u3c 0.01). The proportion of gilts achieving their first parity increased with score for VSA (64.7, 73.2, and 84.4%; P = 0.02), VSB (66.0, 71.7, 79.2, 76.4, and 84.2%; P = 0.02), and FS (67.2, 75.0, and 88.8%; P = 0.03), but VSA, VSB, and FS did not influence percentage of gilts achieving their second parity (P = 0.32, 0.29, and 0.30, respectively). Litter performance of gilts scored as M or L using VSA improved with an increased total born over two parities compared to those scored as S (23.96 vs. 26.38 pigs; P \u3c 0.01) as well as born alive (21.13 vs. 23.05 pigs; P \u3c 0.05). Results were similar for VSB, where scores 2-5 had greater total born (23.97 vs. 26.33 pigs; P \u3c 0.01) and born alive (21.11 vs. 23.02 pigs; P \u3c 0.05) through two parities compared to gilts scored 1. Using the FS method, total born pigs tended to be increased (P = 0.06) through two parities for gilts having a 2 or 3 vulva score compared to those scored as a 1. Collectively, assessing VW at approximately 15 wk of age may identify sows with improved productivity through two parities as breeding herd females

Ornamental plants: annual reports and research summaries

The Ohio State University Extension Nursery, Landscape, and Turf Team (ENLTT) -- Extension Nursery, Landscape, and Turf Team (ENLTT) directory -- An evaluation of composts for landscape soil amendments / Mary Ann Rose and Hao Wang -- Aesthetic evaluation of crabapples at Secrest Arboretum in Wooster, Ohio: 1994-1995 / James A. Chatfield, Erik A. Draper, Kenneth C. Cochran, Peter W. Bristol and Charles E. Tubesing -- Evaluation of crabapples for apple scab at Secrest Arboretum in Wooster, Ohio: 1995 / Erik A. Draper, James A. Chatfield, Kenneth C. Cochran, Peter W. Bristol and Charles E. Tubesing -- Emergence, longevity, and aesthetic evaluations of flowers in ornamental crabapples at Secrest Arboretum in Wooster, Ohio: 1995 / Erik A. Draper, James A. Chatfield and Kenneth C. Cochran -- Environmental and cultural ornamental plant problems in Ohio: 1995 / Pamela J. Bennett and Jane A. Martin -- 1995 -A Challenging Year for Ohio golf courses / Joseph W. Rimelspach, John R. Street, Karl Danneberger, William E. Pound, Barbara Bloetscher -- Plant insect pest problems in Ohio: 1995 / Joseph F. Boggs, David J. Shetlar, Gary Yu Gao, Daniel Balser, Douglas C. Caldwell, Randall H. Zondag and James A. Chatfield -- Gypsy moth in Ohio: 1995 / Allan Baumgard, David F. James and Randall H. Zondag -- Landscape ornamental disease problems in Ohio: 1995 / James A. Chatfield, Nancy Taylor, Randall H. Zondag, Mary Ann Rose, Gary Yu Gao, Daniel R. Balser and David J. Shetlar -- The Response of native and naturalized trees to construction activity / T. Davis Sydnor, Joseph F. Boggs and Mary Ann Ros