Association of GSTP1 gene polymorphisms with performance traits in Deoni cattle

Heat stress directly and indirectly stimulate excessive intra/inter cellular toxicants such as malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Glutathione S-transferase Pi (GSTP1) plays the central role in the detoxification of ROS. In this investigation, we studied the genetic variation in GSTP1 gene using polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) technique in 70 Deoni breed cows. All the seven exons of GSTP1 gene were amplified by PCR using a total of six sets of primers. The genetic variants were determined by PCR-SSCP technique. Two unique SSCP patterns were observed in fragment 1, 3, 5 and 6 of GSTP1 gene. Sequence analysis with reference to GenBank Acc. no AC_000186.1 revealed polymorphisms at position 210, 746, 2438, 2439, 2443, 2507, 2695 and insertions between positions 707 and 708, 2700-2701 and 2775-2776. All the observed variations in coding regions were silent mutations. The cows with SSCP pattern B of fragment-5 had higher age at first calving while the cows with pattern A had higher lactation length and lactation yield as compared to pattern B (P≤0.05). The animals with pattern A of fragment 6 in GSTP1 gene had higher lactation length and lactation yield as compared to animals with pattern B. There was no significant difference in enzyme activity and calving interval in cows with different patterns in different SSCP fragments.Keywords: Deoni, GSTP1, polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP), single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), heat stressAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(24), pp. 3768-377

The Impact of Antioxidant Supplementation and Heat Stress on Carcass Characteristics, Muscle Nutritional Profile and Functionality of Lamb Meat

The impact of antioxidant supplementation and short-term heat stress on lamb body weight gain, meat nutritional profile and functionality (storage stability of lipids and colour) of lamb meat was investigated. A total of 48 crossbred ((Merino × Border Leicester) × Dorset) lambs (42 ± 2 kg body weight, 7 mo age) were randomly allocated to three dietary treatments (n = 16) by liveweight (LW) that differed in dosage of vitamin E and selenium (Se) in the diet. Vitamin E and Se levels in the control (CON), moderate (MOD) and supranutritional (SUP) dietary treatments were 28, 130 and 228 mg/kg DM as α-tocopherol acetate and 0.16, 0.66 and 1.16 mg Se as SelPlex™/kg DM, respectively. After four weeks of feeding in individual pens, including one week of adaptation, lambs were exposed to two heat treatments. Animals were moved to metabolism cages for one week and subjected to heat treatments: thermoneutral (TN; 18–21 °C and 40–50% relative humidity) and heat stress (HS; 28–40 °C and 30–40% relative humidity) conditions, respectively. Final LW and hot carcass weight were influenced by dietary treatments with higher final live weight (FLW) (p = 0.05; 46.8 vs. 44.4 and 43.8 kg, respectively) and hot carcass weight (HCW) (p = 0.01; 22.5 vs. 21.3 and 21.0 kg, respectively) recorded in lambs fed the SUP as opposed to the CON and MOD diets. Vitamin E concentration in the longissimus lumborum (LL) muscle tended to be higher in lambs fed MOD or SUP diets than the CON group. Lipid oxidation of aged meat at 72 h of simulated retail display was reduced by antioxidant supplementation. Short-term (one week) heat stress treatment significantly increased muscle linoleic acid and total omega-6 concentrations compared with the CON group. The results demonstrate that four-week antioxidant supplementation at the SUP level improved animal productivity by increasing LW and carcass weight and the functionality of meat exhibited by reduced lipid oxidation. An increase in muscle omega-6 fatty acid concentration from short-term heat stress may induce oxidative stress via proinflammatory action

A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of High, Medium, and Low Voltage Electrical Stimulation on the Meat Quality of Small Ruminants

The current study is a meta-analysis of the effects of electrical stimulation (ES, n = 28 papers) with different voltages combined with different ageing periods (0–3, 4–7, and 8–14 days) on the meat quality of small ruminants. A comprehensive search for published studies on meat quality of small ruminants investigating the application of low, medium, and high voltage electrical stimulation, was performed using Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Scopus databases. Forest plots, funnel plots, and other statistical tools and tests were used in the study to analyze the results. Electrical stimulation significantly reduced ultimate pH (p < 0.001), Warner–Bratzler shear force (WBSF) (p < 0.001), cooking loss (p < 0.05), and purge loss (p < 0.001). In addition, sarcomere length (p < 0.01), myofibrillar-fragmentation index (MFI) (p < 0.001), and color (L*, a*, b*) (p < 0.001) showed higher values in meat subjected to ES as compared with the control group. In conclusion, the meta-analysis revealed statistical proof of beneficial effects of ES on meat quality of small ruminants in terms of ultimate pH, tenderness, enhanced proteolysis, and higher colorimetric values

Non-Invasive Sheep Biometrics Obtained by Computer Vision Algorithms and Machine Learning Modeling Using Integrated Visible/Infrared Thermal Cameras

Live sheep export has become a public concern. This study aimed to test a non-contact biometric system based on artificial intelligence to assess heat stress of sheep to be potentially used as automated animal welfare assessment in farms and while in transport. Skin temperature (°C) from head features were extracted from infrared thermal videos (IRTV) using automated tracking algorithms. Two parameter engineering procedures from RGB videos were performed to assess Heart Rate (HR) in beats per minute (BPM) and respiration rate (RR) in breaths per minute (BrPM): (i) using changes in luminosity of the green (G) channel and (ii) changes in the green to red (a) from the CIELAB color scale. A supervised machine learning (ML) classification model was developed using raw RR parameters as inputs to classify cutoff frequencies for low, medium, and high respiration rate (Model 1). A supervised ML regression model was developed using raw HR and RR parameters from Model 1 (Model 2). Results showed that Models 1 and 2 were highly accurate in the estimation of RR frequency level with 96% overall accuracy (Model 1), and HR and RR with R = 0.94 and slope = 0.76 (Model 2) without statistical signs of overfitting

Meta-Regression Analysis of Relationships between Fibre Type and Meat Quality in Beef and Pork—Focus on Pork

This meta-regression analysis was conducted to identify the relationship between fibretype cross-sectional area (CSA) and frequency (%) and meat quality traits, especially tenderness (sensory and Warner-Bratzler Shear Force, WBSF). Literature searches were conducted using specific keywords which resulted in 32 peer-reviewed manuscripts that contained averages and correlation coefficients for fibre type (frequency and CSA) and quality traits of longissimus muscle for beef and pork (7 and 25 studies respectively). Correlations were analysed in meta-regression using R-Studio and linear regression was also conducted. For the combined beef and pork analysis, only pH, WBSF, and drip loss were associated with fibre type frequency and CSA (p < 0.05 for all). Limiting the analysis to pork, the key results were frequency of type I fibres were associated with decreased drip loss, increased cook loss, decreased lightness (L*) and increased sensory tenderness whereas frequency of type IIb fibres were associated with increased drip loss (p < 0.05 for all). In addition, the CSA of type I and IIb fibres was associated with colour traits lightness and redness (p < 0.05 for all). Future research should focus on fibre type across breeds and muscles to further understand the impacts of fibre type frequency and CSA on quality

The Impact of Heat Stress on Immune Status of Dairy Cattle and Strategies to Ameliorate the Negative Effects

Heat stress (HS) is well known to influence animal health and livestock productivity negatively. Heat stress is a multi-billion-dollar global problem. It impairs animal performance during summer when animals are exposed to high ambient temperatures, direct and indirect solar radiations, and humidity. While significant developments have been achieved over the last few decades to mitigate the negative impact of HS, such as physical modification of the environment to protect the animals from direct heat, HS remains a significant challenge for the dairy industry compromising dairy cattle health and welfare. In such a scenario, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of how the immune system of dairy cattle responds to HS and identify the variable responses among the animals. This understanding could help to identify heat-resilient dairy animals for breeding and may lead to the development of climate resilient breeds in the future to support sustainable dairy cattle production. There are sufficient data demonstrating the impact of increased temperature and humidity on endocrine responses to HS in dairy cattle, especially changes in concentration of hormones like prolactin and cortisol, which also provide an indication of the likely im-pact on the immune system. In this paper, we review the recent research on the impact of HS on immunity of calves during early life to adult lactating and dry cows. Additionally, different strategies for amelioration of negative effects of HS have been presented

Effects of Feeding a Commercial Starch Binding Agent during Heat Stress on Enteric Methane Emission, Rumen Volatile Fatty Acid Contents, and Diet Digestibility of Merino Lambs

Twenty-four Merino lambs were allocated to three dietary treatment groups to determine the effects of a dietary starch and protein binding agent and heat stress on methane (CH4) emissions and rumen parameters. The diets were a wheat-based diet (WD), a 2% Bioprotect™ (Bioprotect™, RealisticAgri, Rutland, UK) treated wheat-based diet (BD), and a maize-based diet (MD) for 3 periods of 1-week duration. During Period 1 (P1) the lambs were maintained under thermoneutral conditions and at a 1.7 × Maintenance (M) level. During P2 and P3, the lambs were maintained under cyclic heat stress conditions and fed at 1.7 × M and 2.0 × M, respectively. Total CH4 production was lower for the BD diet than the WD diet, which in turn was lower than the MD diet (p < 0.001). Total CH4 production was lower during P2 than P1 with P3 intermediate (p = 0.04). Rumen total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) concentrations were higher for the WD diet than the MD diet with the BD diet intermediate (p = 0.01). Rumen TVFA concentrations were lower during heat stress than under thermoneutral conditions (p < 0.001). Whole tract starch digestibility was higher for the BD and WD diets than the MD diet (p < 0.001). In conclusion, feeding Merino lambs the BD diet reduces CH4 emissions without reducing starch digestibility

A prospective, randomized, double-blinded single-site control study comparing blood loss prevention of tranexamic acid (TXA) to epsilon aminocaproic acid (EACA) for corrective spinal surgery

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Multilevel spinal fusion surgery has typically been associated with significant blood loss. To limit both the need for transfusions and co-morbidities associated with blood loss, the use of anti-fibrinolytic agents has been proposed. While there is some literature comparing the effectiveness of tranexamic acid (TXA) to epsilon aminocaproic acid (EACA) in cardiac procedures, there is currently no literature directly comparing TXA to EACA in orthopedic surgery.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>Here we propose a prospective, randomized, double-blinded control study evaluating the effects of TXA, EACA, and placebo for treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), neuromuscular scoliosis (NMS), and adult deformity (AD) via corrective spinal surgery. Efficacy will be determined by intraoperative and postoperative blood loss. Other clinical outcomes that will be compared include transfusion rates, preoperative and postoperative hemodynamic values, and length of hospital stay after the procedure.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The primary goal of the study is to determine perioperative blood loss as a measure of the efficacy of TXA, EACA, and placebo. Based on current literature and the mechanism by which the medications act, we hypothesize that TXA will be more effective at reducing blood loss than EACA or placebo and result in improved patient outcomes.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT00958581</p

Down Regulation of a Matrix Degrading Cysteine Protease Cathepsin L, by Acetaldehyde: Role of C/EBPα

BACKGROUND: The imbalance between extra cellular matrix (ECM) synthesis and degradation is critical aspect of various hepatic pathologies including alcohol induced liver fibrosis. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of acetaldehyde on expression of an extra cellular matrix degrading protease cathepsin L (CTSL) in HepG2 cells. METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS: We measured the enzymatic activity, protein and, mRNA levels of CTSL in acetaldehyde treated and untreated cells. The binding of CAAT enhancer binding protein α (C/EBP α) to CTSL promoter and its key role in the transcription from this promoter and conferring responsiveness to acetaldehyde was established by site directed mutagenesis, electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays and siRNA technology. Acetaldehyde treatment significantly decreased CTSL activity and protein levels in HepG2 cells. A similar decrease in the mRNA levels and promoter activity was also observed. This decrease by acetaldehyde was attributed to the fall in the liver enriched transcription factor C/EBP α levels and it's binding to the CTSL promoter. Mutagenesis of C/EBP α binding motifs revealed the key role of this factor in CTSL transcription as well as conferring responsiveness to acetaldehyde. The siRNA mediated silencing of the C/EBP α expression mimicked the effect of acetaldehyde on CTSL levels and its promoter activity. It also abolished the responsiveness of this promoter to acetaldehyde. CONCLUSION: Acetaldehyde down regulates the C/EBP α mediated CTSL expression in hepatic cell lines. The decreased expression of CTSL may at least in part contribute to ECM deposition in liver which is a hallmark of alcoholic liver fibrosis