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Increased body condition score through increased lean muscle, but not fat deposition, is associated with reduced reproductive response to oestrus induction in beef cows
- A. Guzmán, E. Gonzalez-Padilla, P. Garcés-Yepez, J. V. Rosete-Fernández, R. C. Calderón-Robles, W. D. Whittier, D. H. Keisler, C. G. Gutierrez
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Energy reserve, estimated as body condition score (BCS), is the major determinant of the re-initiation of ovarian activity in postpartum cows. Leptin, IGF-I and insulin are positively related to BCS and are putative mediators between BCS and reproductive function. However, when BCS and body composition dissociates, concentrations of these metabolic hormones are altered. We hypothesized that increasing lean muscle tissue, but not fat tissue, would diminish the reproductive response to oestrus induction treatments. Thirty lactating beef cows with BCS of 3.10±1.21 and 75.94±12 days postpartum were divided in two groups. Control cows (n=15) were supplemented with 10.20 kg of concentrate daily for 60 days. Treated cows (n=15) were supplemented equally, and received a β-adrenergic receptor agonist (β-AA; 0.15 mg/kg BW) to achieve accretion of lean tissue mass and not fat tissue mass. Twelve days after ending concentrate supplementation/β-AA treatment, cows received a progestin implant to induce oestrus. Cows displaying oestrus were inseminated during the following 60 days, and maintained with a fertile bull for a further 21 days. Cows in both groups gained weight during the supplementation period (Daily weight gain: Control=0.75 kg v. β-AA=0.89 kg). Cows treated with β-AA had a larger increase in BCS (i.e. change in BCS: control=1 point (score 4.13) v. β-AA=2 points (score 5.06; P<0.05), as a result of muscle accretion (i.e. change in muscle depth: control 0.21 cm v. β-AA 0.97 cm; P<0.05) but not adipose tissue (i.e. change in back fat depth; control 0.13 cm v. β-AA −0.06 cm; P<0.05). The changes in body composition in β-AA cows were associated with a reduction in serum concentrations of IGF-I (25.4%) and leptin (27.9%), without observed changes in insulin. Ovulation and pregnancy to 1st service (P>0.05) did not differ between groups. However, the number of cows displaying oestrus (control 13/15 v. β-AA 8/15; P<0.05) and the percentage cycling (control 6/8 v. β-AA 3/10; P=0.07) after progestin treatment and the pregnancy percentage at the end of the breeding period (control 13/15 v. β-AA 8/15; P<0.05) were lower in β-AA than control cows. In summary, the increase BCS through muscle tissue accretion, but not through fat tissue accretion, resulted in a lower response to oestrus induction, lower percentage of cycling animals and lower pregnancy percentage after progestin treatment; which was associated with a decrease in serum concentrations of leptin and IGF-I.
Creep-feeding to stimulate metabolic imprinting in nursing beef heifers: impacts on heifer growth, reproductive and physiological variables
- M. M. Reis, R. F. Cooke, B. I. Cappellozza, R. S. Marques, T. A. Guarnieri Filho, M. C. Rodrigues, J. S. Bradley, C. J. Mueller, D. H. Keisler, S. E. Johnson, D. W. Bohnert
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This experiment compared growth, physiological, and reproductive responses of beef heifers with (MI) or without (CON) access to a creep-feeder, as a manner to stimulate metabolic imprinting while nursing their dams. On day 0, 60 Angus×Hereford heifers were ranked by BW and age (140±3 kg and 68±3 days), and assigned to pairs so all ranking criteria were similar between heifers within each pair. On day 1, pairs were randomly assigned to MI (n=15) or CON (n=15). From day 1 to 51, MI pairs and their dams were allocated to 15 drylot pens where heifers had ad libitum access to a corn-based supplement through a creep-feeder. The CON pairs and their dams were maintained in an adjacent single drylot pen. From day 52 to 111, treatments were managed as a single group on a semiarid range pasture. On day 111, heifers were weaned and allocated to two pastures (one pasture/treatment), receiving hay and a corn-based concentrate until day 326. Heifer BW was recorded before and at the end of the creep-feeding period (day 1 to 51), and on days 112 and 326. On days 0, 51, 111, 187, 261, and 325, jugular blood was collected and real-time ultrasonography for longissimus muscle depth and backfat thickness assessment was performed. Blood was also collected every 10 days from days 113 to 323 for puberty evaluation via plasma progesterone. Liver and subcutaneous fat biopsies were performed on days 51, 111, 261 and 325. Average daily gain was greater (P<0.01) for MI than CON from day 1 to 51, tended (P=0.09) to be greater for CON than MI from day 112 to 326, while BW on day 326 was similar between treatments. On day 51, MI had greater (P⩽0.01) plasma IGF-I and glucose concentrations, as well as mRNA expression of hepatic pyruvate carboxylase and adipose fatty acid synthase than CON. On days 261 and 325, plasma insulin concentrations were greater (P⩽0.03) in CON than MI. Mean mRNA expression of hepatic IGF-I and adipose peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma were greater (P⩽0.05) in MI than CON. No treatment effects were detected for puberty attainment rate. In conclusion, supplementing nursing heifers via creep-feeding for 50 days altered physiological and biochemical variables suggestive of a metabolic imprinting effect, but did not hasten their puberty attainment.
Onset of puberty and the inflection point of the growth curve in sheep – Brody's Law revisited
- W. PITTROFF, F. DAHM, F. BLANC, D. KEISLER, T. C. CARTWRIGHT
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- The Journal of Agricultural Science / Volume 146 / Issue 3 / June 2008
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 27 March 2008, pp. 239-250
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Brody (1945) concluded that the inflection point of the growth curve of domestic animals coincides with the onset of puberty and is coupled with an increase in proportion of fat gain at that time. This purported coincidence of growth inflection and onset of puberty has been termed the ‘Brody Law’. Recent findings suggesting a pivotal role of body energy reserves, communicated by the metabolic hormone leptin, on the onset of puberty led to the hypothesis that sheep must reach the inflection point of growth (AIP) considerably before the onset of puberty (AOP). In order to test this hypothesis, growth curves were fitted for ewe lambs on different growth trajectories from two experiments. Both experiments examined the effect of growth trajectory on AOP in ewe lambs. One data set was developed in France with Merino sheep; the other came from two distinct genetic lines of Targhee sheep in the USA. The French experiment subjected ewe lambs to two different feeding levels, while the USA experiment compared two nutritional regimens differing in both energy and protein concentration.
Several non-linear models described in the literature as potentially useful for modelling weight–age relationships were fitted. The Logistic function was identified as the superior model for all datasets. All animals in both experiments reached AIP considerably before AOP. AOP was defined using two criteria threshold levels of progesterone as AOP1 ⩾0·5 ng/ml and AOP2 ⩾1 ng/ml progesterone. For the USA data, multivariate analysis of AIP, AOP1 and AOP2 demonstrated that nutritional treatment was highly significant; this was also the case for the multivariate analysis of AIP, degree of maturity at AOP1 (DOM1) and DOM2. The correlation between AIP and DOM was highly negative. In contrast, the feeding treatment in the French experiments had no effect on any of the response variables except estimated mature weight. However, AIP was negatively correlated with DOM1 and DOM2. AOP was highly positively correlated with DOM. Most notably, AIP was not correlated with AOP1 or AOP2 in either experiment, and all animals reached AIP considerably before AOP1. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that growing female sheep must reach a certain minimum level of body fatness before the onset of puberty. Genetic group and nutritional treatment significantly affect growth curve parameters; hence, the age at which this (currently unknown) level is reached must strongly depend on nutritional regimen. It is concluded that growth modelling per se cannot be used to infer onset of puberty, and that endocrine thresholds do not necessarily demarcate distinct phases of the growth curve.
The role of leptin in the transition from fetus to neonate
- A. Mostyn, D. H. Keisler, R. Webb, T. Stephenson, M. E. Symonds
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- Journal:
- Proceedings of the Nutrition Society / Volume 60 / Issue 2 / May 2001
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 28 February 2007, pp. 187-194
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Leptin is a 16 kDa hormone which has been shown to have a major physiological role in the control of energy balance. Leptin is produced primarily in white adipose tissue, although there is evidence for its production in brown adipose tissue (BAT) and the placenta. BAT is critically important for the initiation of non-shivering thermogenesis in the newborn through the BAT-specific uncoupling protein (UCP), UCP1. This factor is particularly important in lambs in which levels of UCP1 peak at birth, concomitant with a rapid decline in plasma leptin levels. Our studies have examined the effect of acute and chronic administration of leptin to neonatal lambs, investigating effects on colonic temperature, UCP1 and thermogenic potential of BAT. Administration of leptin in sequential physiological doses of 10, 100 and 100 µg to neonatal lambs caused a modest increase in colonic temperature which was not observed in weight-matched vehicle-treated controls. This increase in colonic temperature was not mediated by an increase in either abundance or thermogenic potential of UCP1, as previously shown in adult rodents. UCP1 mRNA levels were 30 % lower in leptin-treated lambs, which is also contradictory to findings in adult rodents. Leptin treatment resulted in a dose-dependent rise in plasma leptin, with levels at the end of the study being almost twenty times greater in leptin-treated animals. To determine whether these findings in neonatal lambs were transient due to the complex milieu of hormones present after birth, we examined the effect of chronic leptin treatment over 6 d. Pairs of lambs were treated daily, from the second to seventh day of life with 100 µg leptin or vehicle. Colonic temperatures of leptin- and vehicle-treated animals remained similar throughout the study. UCP1 abundance was significantly lower in the leptin-treated animals, suggesting that the drop in UCP1 mRNA seen in the previous study had been translated to protein levels. In conclusion, the decline in plasma leptin levels at birth may be a signal to initiate enteral feeding. In lambs, the rapid loss of UCP1 mRNA, which occurs within the first few days of life, appears to be accelerated by leptin administration, possibly stimulating the development of white adipose tissue and generation of body heat through mechanisms other than non-shivering thermogenesis by UCP1 in BAT.
Influence of maternal pre-pregnancy body composition and diet during early–mid pregnancy on cardiovascular function and nephron number in juvenile sheep
- G. S. Gopalakrishnan, D. S. Gardner, J. Dandrea, S. C. Langley-Evans, S. Pearce, L. O. Kurlak, R. M. Walker, I. W. Seetho, D. H. Keisler, M. M. Ramsay, T. Stephenson, M. E. Symonds
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- Journal:
- British Journal of Nutrition / Volume 94 / Issue 6 / December 2005
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 08 March 2007, pp. 938-947
- Print publication:
- December 2005
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The prenatal diet can program an individual's cardiovascular system towards later higher resting blood pressure and kidney dysfunction, but the extent to which these programmed responses are directly determined by the timing of maternal nutritional manipulation is unknown. In the present study we examined whether maternal nutrient restriction targeted over the period of maximal placental growth, i.e. days 28–80 of gestation, resulted in altered blood pressure or kidney development in the juvenile offspring. This was undertaken in 6-month-old sheep born to mothers fed control (100–150 % of the recommended metabolisable energy (ME) intake for that stage of gestation) or nutrient-restricted (NR; 50 % ME; n 6) diets between days 28 and 80 of gestation. Controls were additionally grouped according to normal (>3, n 7) or low body condition score (LBCS; <2, n 6), thereby enabling us to examine the effect of maternal body composition on later cardiovascular function. From day 80 to term (approximately 147 d) all sheep were fed to 100 % ME. Offspring were weaned at 12 weeks and pasture-reared until 6 months of age when cardiovascular function was determined. Both LBCS and NR sheep tended to have lower resting systolic (control, 85 (SE 2); LBCS, 77 (SE 3); NR, 77 (SE 3) mmHg) and diastolic blood pressure relative to controls. Total nephron count was markedly lower in both LBCS and NR relative to controls (LBCS, 59 (SE 6); NR, 56 (SE 12) %). Our data suggest that maternal body composition around conception is as important as the level of nutrient intake during early pregnancy in programming later cardiovascular health.