Orelha de Elefante Mexicana (Opuntia stricta [Haw.] Haw.) spineless cactus as an option in crossbred dairy cattle diet

new genotype of spineless cactus is being used in the diets of dairy cattle that are raised in semi-arid regions. However, little is known about its nutritional value. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of replacing Miúda (Nopalea cochenillifera Salm Dyck) with Orelha de Elefante Mexicana (Opuntia stricta [Haw.] Haw.) spineless cactus, on nutrient intake and digestibility, milk yield and composition, feeding behaviour, microbial protein synthesis, nitrogen balance, and ruminal and blood parameters of dairy cows. Ten Girolando cows, 500 ± 51.6 kg bodyweight, were distributed in a double Latin square design 5 x 5. The treatments consisted of replacement levels of Miúda (MIU) by Orelha de Elefante Mexicana (OEM) at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%. The intake and digestibility of dry matter (DM) (14.38–12.95 kg d-1, 716.3–658.9 g d-1), organic matter (OM) (13.01–11.43 kg d-1, 747.8–704.8 g d-1), crude protein (CP) (2.02–1.61 kg d-1, 863.8–845.2 g d-1) and total digestible nutrients (TDN) (9.38–7.92 kg d-1) decreased linearly with the increase in replacement. Despite the decrease in intake and digestibility, the supply of nutrients was sufficient to maintain a milk yield of 12.5 kg d-1. The average daily weight gain decreased linearly with the increase in replacement, while protein microbial efficiency (g microbial CP kg-1 TDN intake; 91.24 to 127.44 g kg-1) increased linearly. Thus, OEM could replace 100% MIU in diets with 48% of spineless cactus, for crossbred lactating cows with 12.5 kg d-1 milk yield. Therefore, OEM is a viable new option for producing milk in smallholder livestock systems in semi-arid regions.Keywords: Alternative forage, milk yield, ruminal parameter, semi-arid, smallholder livestock syste

Inclusion of shrimp waste meal in diet of free-range chickens

Shrimp waste meal (SWM) is a by-product from the processing of shrimp for human consumption. The value of SMW in feeding poultry is not well documented. The objective of this study was to determine the energy value and optimal inclusion level of SWM in the diet of growing chickens. A total of 180 one-day-old broilers were randomly assigned to five treatments with 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 g/kg of SWM included in their diet. There were six replicates of six birds for each treatment. Dry matter intake (DMI) was not affected by the level of SWM that was fed. Retained dry matter varied from 72.39% in the diet that did not contain SWM to 66.97% in the diet with 200 g/kg of SWM. Nitrogen retention (NR) ranged from 54.70% to 70.10%; N ingested was between 18.71% and 24.03%. Energy intake ranged from 73.57% to 69.33% for the control and the diet with 200 g/kg of SWM, respectively. NR improved with increasing SWM inclusion levels. The apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and corrected apparent energy metabolizable (AMEn) ranged from 2928 to 2527 kcal/kg and 2774 to 2329 kcal/kg, respectively, relative to the control and 200 g/kg SWM diets. The energy consumption, in kcal/kg, of SWM consumed was AME = 2332-6.971 x SWM and AMEn = 2113-8.128 x SWM. High levels of SWM reduce the dry matter metabolization coefficient and metabolizable energy values in broilers during the growing phase, so it is recommended that up to 100 g/kg should be included, which would provide an AMEn of 1300.2 kcal/kg for free-range chickens in dry matter

DNA methylation screening after roux-en Y gastric bypass reveals the epigenetic signature stems from genes related to the surgery per se

[Abstract] Background/objectives: Obesity has been associated with gene methylation regulation. Recent studies have shown that epigenetic signature plays a role in metabolic homeostasis after Roux-en Y gastric bypass (RYGB). To conduct a genome-wide epigenetic analysis in peripheral blood to investigate whether epigenetic changes following RYGB stem from weight loss or the surgical procedure per se. Subjects/methods: By means of the Infinium Human Methylation 450 BeadChip array, global methylation was analyzed in blood of 24 severely obese women before and 6 months after RYGB and in 24 normal-weight women (controls). Results: In blood cells, nine DMCpG sites showed low methylation levels before surgery, methylation levels increased after RYGB and neared the levels measured in the controls. Additionally, 44 CpG sites associated with the Wnt and p53 signaling pathways were always differently methylated in the severely obese patients as compared to the controls and were not influenced by RYGB. Finally, 1638 CpG sites related to inflammation, angiogenesis, and apoptosis presented distinct methylation in the post-surgery patients as compared to the controls. Conclusion: Bariatric surgery per se acts on CpGs related to inflammation, angiogenesis, and endothelin-signaling. However, the gene cluster associated with obesity remains unchanged, suggesting that weight loss 6 months after RYGB surgery cannot promote this effect.This study’s data collection, DNA and statistical analysis was supported by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) (grants #2017/07220–7, #2016/05638–1 and #2015/18669–0). Also, statistical and bioinformatics analysis was supported by “Centro de Investigacion Biomedica En Red” (CIBERobn) and grants (PI17/01287) from the “Instituto de Salud Carlos III” (ISCIII), Spain, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), MINECO grants MTM2014–52876-R and MTM2017–82724-R, and by the Xunta de Galicia (Grupos de Referencia Competitiva ED431C-2016-015 and Centro Singular de Investigación de Galicia ED431G/01), all of them through the ERDF. A Diaz-Lagares is funded by a research contract “Juan Rodés” (JR17/00016) and Ana B Crujeiras is funded by a research contract “Miguel Servet” (CP17/00088) from the ISCIII, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)Brasil. Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo; #2017/07220–7Brasil. Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo; #2016/05638–1Brasil. Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo; #2015/18669–0Xunta de Galicia; ED431C-2016-015Xunta de Galicia; ED431G/0

Altered pathways in methylome and transcriptome longitudinal analysis of normal weight and bariatric surgery women

[Abstract] DNA methylation could provide a link between environmental, genetic factors and weight control and can modify gene expression pattern. This study aimed to identify genes, which are differentially expressed and methylated depending on adiposity state by evaluating normal weight women and obese women before and after bariatric surgery (BS). We enrolled 24 normal weight (BMI: 22.5 ± 1.6 kg/m2) and 24 obese women (BMI: 43.3 ± 5.7 kg/m2) submitted to BS. Genome-wide methylation analysis was conducted using Infinium Human Methylation 450 BeadChip (threshold for significant CpG sites based on delta methylation level with a minimum value of 5%, a false discovery rate correction (FDR) of q < 0.05 was applied). Expression levels were measured using HumanHT-12v4 Expression BeadChip (cutoff of p ≤ 0.05 and fold change ≥2.0 was used to detect differentially expressed probes). The integrative analysis of both array data identified four genes (i.e. TPP2, PSMG6, ARL6IP1 and FAM49B) with higher methylation and lower expression level in pre-surgery women compared to normal weight women: and two genes (i.e. ZFP36L1 and USP32) that were differentially methylated after BS. These methylation changes were in promoter region and gene body. All genes are related to MAPK cascade, NIK/NF-kappaB signaling, cellular response to insulin stimulus, proteolysis and others. Integrating analysis of DNA methylation and gene expression evidenced that there is a set of genes relevant to obesity that changed after BS. A gene ontology analysis showed that these genes were enriched in biological functions related to adipogenesis, orexigenic, oxidative stress and insulin metabolism pathways. Also, our results suggest that although methylation plays a role in gene silencing, the majority of effects were not correlated.São Paulo Research Foundation; 2017/07220-7São Paulo Research Foundation; #2016/05638-1São Paulo Research Foundation; #2013/12819-4São Paulo Research Foundation; #2015/18669-0Instituto de Salud Carlos III; PI17/01287Ministerio de Economía y Empresa; MTM2014-52876-RMinisterio de Economía y Empresa; MTM2017-82724-RXunta de Galicia; ED431C-2016-015Xunta de Galicia; ED431G/0