Branched-Chain Amino Acids

Our study is focused on evaluation and use of the most effective and correct nutrients. In particular, our attention is directed to the role of certain amino acids in cachectic patients.During parenteral nutrition in humans, physician already associates in the PN-bags different formulations including amino acids, lipids and glucose solutions or essential amino acids solution alone or exclusively branched-chain amino acids (BCAA). Studies investigated the effects of dietary BCAA ingestion on different diseases and conditions such as obesity and metabolic disorders, liver disease, muscle atrophy, cancer, impaired immunity or injuries (surgery, trauma, burns, and sepsis). BCAAs have been shown to affect gene expression, protein metabolism, apoptosis and regeneration of hepatocytes, and insulin resistance. They have also been shown to inhibit the proliferation of liver cancer cells in vitro, and are essential for lymphocyte proliferation and dendritic cell maturation. Oral or parenteral administration of these three amino acids will allow us to evaluate the real efficacy of these compounds during a therapy to treat malnutrition in subjects unable to feed themselves

The saponification of lauric acid with calcium soaps as an alternative to in-feed antibiotics in post-weaning piglets

In the search for the reduction of antibiotics in farm animals, a concept was developed based on studies with medium-chain fatty acid with 6-12 atoms (MCFA). In particular, they have been shown to exhibit against Gram+ bacteria in piglets at relatively high concentrations. However they can be hardly used as such because of their repellent odour and taste and for their rapid absorption in upper gastrointestinal tract. These problems could be overcome by the generation of monoacylglycerol, but esterification is usually carried out on a silica base, which reduces the concentration of FA, therefore limiting the antibacterial effects. Our hypothesis is that the saponification with calcium salts might positively affect their concentration in the GIT. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of Laurate calcium soap (C12-Ca soap) on growth performance and health of post-weaning piglets. At weaning, 192 crossbreed Topics piglets were assigned to 3 experimental groups consisting of 16 pens (4 pigs/pen each): CTR (negative control), T1 (basal diet plus Amoxycillin at 400 mg/kg), and T2 (basal diet plus C12-Ca soap at 1 kg/ton). Gain and feed consumption did not differ among groups. Feed efficiency was higher in T1 (0,61) and T2 (0,58) than CTR (0,51) (P<0,01). Mortality was 0 in T1, and reduced in T2 (4,7%) compared to CTR (10,9%). These preliminary results suggest that saponification of MCFA may be a valuable alternative to in-feed antibiotics, used for growth promotion, and even for enhancing health in post-weaning piglets

Genetic and environmental effects on a meat spotting defect in seasoned dry-cured ham

Purpose of this investigation was to determine the nature of a visible spotting defect on the slice of dry-cured ham and assess environmental and genetic causes of this frequent problem. A group of 233 pigs from commercial cross-breeding lines, progeny of ten boars and forty seven sows, was raised in a single herd to obtain the “Italian Heavy Pig”, typically slaughtered at 160 ± 10 kg live weight and older than 9 months of age. A quality evaluation of their right dry-cured hams, seasoned according to the Parma P.D.O. protocol, was undertaken. Each ham was cross-sectioned to obtain a slice of Semimembranosus, Semitendinosus and Biceps Femoris muscles. The focused phenotype was the presence/absence of brownish spots in these muscles, which represent a remarkable meat defect with strong impact on the final sale price. Environmental and management factors were considered in order to evaluate variability related to the phenotype. Animals were raised on two different flooring types (concrete and slatted floor) and a Vitamin C diet was also supplemented in the last 45 days before slaughtering to half of the animals. While the pre-planned environmental effects did not show any significant contribution to the total variability of the phenotype, the genetic analysis showed a near to zero value for heritability with a consistent 0.32 repeatability. The proportion of the total phenotypic variance was explained by an important dominance genetic component (0.26) indicating that the technological seasoning process may play a secondary role on the expression of this phenotype

First Evaluation of Infrared Thermography as a Tool for the Monitoring of Udder Health Status in Farms of Dairy Cows

The aim of the present study was to test infrared thermography (IRT), under field conditions, as a possible tool for the evaluation of cow udder health status. Thermographic images (n. 310) from different farms (n. 3) were collected and evaluated using a dedicated software application to calculate automatically and in a standardized way, thermographic indices of each udder. Results obtained have confirmed a significant relationship between udder surface skin temperature (USST) and classes of somatic cell count in collected milk samples. Sensitivity and specificity in the classification of udder health were: 78.6% and 77.9%, respectively, considering a level of somatic cell count (SCC) of 200,000 cells/mL as a threshold to classify a subclinical mastitis or 71.4% and 71.6%, respectively when a threshold of 400,000 cells/mL was adopted. Even though the sensitivity and specificity were lower than in other published papers dealing with non-automated analysis of IRT images, they were considered acceptable as a first field application of this new and developing technology. Future research will permit further improvements in the use of IRT, at farm level. Such improvements could be attained through further image processing and enhancement, and the application of indicators developed and tested in the present study with the purpose of developing a monitoring system for the automatic and early detection of mastitis in individual animals on commercial farms

Effect of non-phytate phosphorus levels and phytase sources on the growth performance, serum biochemical and tibial parameters of broiler chickens

A 3×3 fattorial arrangement with dietary non-phytate phosphorus (NPP) levels and phytase sources (3- and 6-phytase) was conducted to evaluate the effects of NPP levels, phytase sources and their possible interactions on growth performance, serum biochemical and tibia parameters of broiler chickens from hatch to 42 days of age. A total of 540 1-day-old Arbor Acres male broiler chicks were randomly allocated into nine dietary treatments, each containing 5 replicates pens with 12 birds per pen. Interaction was statistically significant in the performance till day 21 of trial, supplementation of low NPP diet decreased body weight (BW) (P<0.001), depressed average daily gain (ADG) (P<0.001) and deteriorated average daily feed intake (ADFI) (P<0.001) over day 42. During the 8-to-21-day period, even if interaction between NPP levels and phytase sources was significant (P<0.01), BW, ADG and ADFI always increased due to dietary supplementation of phytase, with source not differing. Dietary high NPP enhanced serum calcium and P concentrations on day 21 and 42 (linear contrast, P<0.01), while decreased alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activity on day 42 (linear contrast, P<0.001), and interaction was not significant. Both dietary sources of phytase decreased serum AKP activities on day 42 (P<0.001), and urea nitrogen content on day 21 (P<0.01) and 42 (P<0.001). Both phytase improved ash percentage on day 21 and P content in tibia at 21 and 42 days of age (P<0.001). The results confirmed that dietary supplementation of phytase may enhance P availability during the 8-to-21-day period. Nevertheless, no difference between the two phytase sources was observed

The Influence of Dietary Gallic Acid on Growth Performance and Plasma Antioxidant Status of High and Low Weaning Weight Piglets.

peer reviewedThis study evaluated the effects of dietary gallic acid (GA) on growth performance, diarrhea incidence and plasma antioxidant status of weaned piglets regardless of whether weaning weight was high or low. A total of 120 weaned piglets were randomly allocated to four treatments in a 42-day experiment with a 2 × 2 factorial treatment arrangement comparing different weaning weights (high weight (HW) or low weight (LW), 8.49 ± 0.18 kg vs. 5.45 ± 0.13 kg) and dietary treatment (without supplementation (CT) or with supplementation of 400 mg/kg of GA). The results showed that HW piglets exhibited better growth performance and plasma antioxidant capacity. Piglets supplemented with GA had higher body weight (BW) on day 42 and average daily gain (ADG) from day 0 to 42 compared to the control piglets, which is mainly attributed to the specific improvement on BW and ADG of LW piglets by the supplementation of GA. The decreased values of diarrhea incidence were seen in piglets fed GA, more particularly in LW piglets. In addition, dietary GA numerically reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) content in plasma of LW piglets. In conclusion, our study suggests that dietary GA may especially improve the growth and health in LW weaned piglets

Isolated slaughterhouse liver as model for normothermic perfusion after warm and cold ischemia: single case report

AbstractLiver transplantation is an ultimate procedure in patients suffering end-stage liver diseases. In these last years the donation after cardiac death (DCD) has increased the pool of potential liver donors. Different studies and procedures are involved in the prevention of the main ischemic problems during the reconditioning and resuscitation of the marginal livers. Normothermic extracorporeal liver perfusion (NELP) avoids prolonged cold storage damage that is the main cause of steatosis and biliary tract ischemia in transplanted patiens. Different porcine models have been studied and developed to understand the ischemia mechanism and to select the better technique for NELP.We conducted our study using a DCD pig liver model collected from slaughterhouse. Using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, 2000 ml of total fluid containing autologous blood, lidocaine, heparin, antibiotics, glucose 10 % solution and flunixin, the NELP was achieved. The liver was perfused over 7 hours after 48 hours of cold storage (4C°), using Eurocollins solution. During the liver withdrawal in the slaughterhouse 20 minutes were waited to simulate the warm ischemia (WI) time. Histological samples, swab for bacterial grow, blood sample, temperature and pulse oximetry saturation were collected to assess the liver viability and function. These analyses revealed stable metabolism throughout perfusion identifying a cycles 2 hours length, coinciding with recovery of oxygen uptake rates to fresh liver, as described in literature.In summary the preliminary established model of isolated hemoperfused slatherhouse liver reveals the important role of the relation between cold storage and normothermic perfusion. Moreover this preliminary study justifies further investigation of the optimization of the treatment protocols and perfusion media

Polyphenolic content and antioxidant activity in agri-food wastes and by-products using different extraction methods

Agri-food wastes (AFW) and by-products chain still have the potential to be reprocessed into other production systems. AFW and by-products may contain components that could be valorised for their bioactivity, such as polyphenols and antioxidant molecules that can be used as a source of functional ingredients for feed industries. However the bioaccessibility of these products are higly variable and dependent on a range of factors, one of the most important being food matrix characteristic.The aim of this study was to determine the total phenolic content and the antioxidant capacity of several AFW (fruit and vegetable waste (FVW), citrus pulp, strawberry and orange dried) and by-products (grape marc, Camilina sativa cake, olive pomace and whey) using different extraction protocols. A total of 24 samples were processed using two different extraction methods: chemical extraction and in vitro physiological extraction. Afterwards, the polyphenolic content was assessed by Folin–Ciocalteu assay while antioxidant capacity was determined by 2, 2-Azino-bis-3 ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic Acid (ABTS) assay. Soy and wheat samples were included as controls in all the experiments.Results obtained showed that the chemical extracts of by-products and AFW contain different amount of polyphenols; in particular, as expected, the grape marc showed the highest polyphenolic content with a value of 4.5% w/w, followed by Camilina sativa cake, olive pomace, FVW, orange and strawberry dried showed a polyphenolic content of 1.3, 0.7, 1.3, 1.6 and 1.3 %w/w, respectively. Considering the antioxidant capacity, grape marc exhibited a significant (P&lt;0.05) value of 573.6 μmol Trolox equivalent/g after chemical extraction compared to the other samples considered. The physiological extraction yielded high polyphenolic content and antioxidant capacity, suggesting that during the digestion the bioaccessibility of phenolic and antioxidant compounds was improved. The results obtained in this study indicate that AFW and by-products could be considered a promising source of antioxidants and phenolic compounds

Effect of chromium yeast supplementation on performance, reproduction and immune function in pigs

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