Rosiglitazone,a PPAR-γ Agonist,Fails to Attenuate CLA-Induced Milk Fat Depression and Hepatic Lipid Accumulation in Lactating Mice

Our objective was to investigate the combination of rosiglitazone (ROSI) and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on mammary and hepatic lipogenesis in lactating C57Bl/6 J mice. Twenty-four lactating mice were randomly assigned to one of four treatments applied from postpartum day 6 to day 10. Treatments included: (1) control diet, (2) control plus 1.5 % dietary CLA (CLA) substituted for soybean oil, (3) control plus daily intra-peritoneal (IP) rosiglitazone injections (10 mg/kg body weight) (ROSI), and (4) CLA plus ROSI (CLA-ROSI). Dam food intake and milk fat concentration were depressed with CLA. However, no effects were observed with ROSI. The CLA-induced milk fat depression was due to reduced expression for mammary lipogenic genes involved in de-novo fatty acid (FA) synthesis, FA uptake and desaturation, and triacyglycerol synthesis. Liver weight (g/100 g body weight) was increased by CLA due to an increase in lipid accumulation triggering a compensatory reduction in mRNA abundance of hepatic lipogenic enzymes, including acetyl-CoA carboxylase I and stearoyl-CoA desaturase I. On the contrary, no effects were observed with ROSI on hepatic and mammary lipogenic gene and enzyme expression. Overall, feeding CLA to lactating mice induced milk fat depression and increased hepatic lipid accumulation, probably due to the presence of trans-10, cis-12 CLA isomer, while ROSI failed to significantly attenuate both hepatic steatosis and reduction in milk fat content.     

Electrophoretic separation and properties of winged bean seed trypsin inhibitor

Separation of the major trypsin inhibitor protein from crude extracts of winged bean seeds (WBTi) was accomplished using a cathodic polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoretic system. The molecular weight of the WBTi protein was determined to be about 20 000. Winged bean seed extracts showed trypsin-inhibiting (Ti) activity similar to soya bean seed extracts, but large genotypic differences of the Ti activity in winged beans were found. Preliminary studies on the effects of processing on WBTi indicate that aqueous extracts of WBTi are at least as heat-labile as the Ti of aqueous extracts of soya bean seeds. Autoclaving winged bean seed meal prior to protein extraction resulted in considerable reduction of protein solubility.     

In vitro degradation of choline from selected feedstuffs and choline supplements

The objective of this experiment was to determine the extent of in vitro degradation of choline from barley, corn, corn gluten meal, cottonseed meal, fish meal, soybean meal, alfalfa hay, timothy hay, choline chloride, and choline stearate. During four individual fermentation runs, samples were incubated in vitro for .25, 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, 36, and 48 h with an inoculum mixture containing rumen fluid obtained from a rumen-fistulated dairy cow fed 17.5% corn silage and 28.7% grass silage and 53.8% concentrate diet. Because of their low choline content (less than .68 mg/g) corn, corn gluten meal, alfalfa hay, and timothy hay gave erratic values for choline disappearance for different fermentation runs and times of incubation although disappearance tended to increase with time. Data for the rest of the feeds and choline supplements were analyzed using nonlinear regression procedure to obtain estimates of potentially degradable choline, rapidly degradable choline, and the rate of choline degradation in vitro. The mean estimates of rumen degradable choline (%) were 79.4, 84.7, 82.9, 83.8, 98.0, and 98.6 for barley, cottonseed meal, fish meal, soybean meal, choline stearate, and choline chloride, respectively. The results suggest that incorporating choline-rich feedstuffs in diets can only marginally increase the postruminal flow of choline in dairy cows.     

Corn silage versus corn silage:alfalfa hay mixtures for dairy cows: effects of dietary potassium, calcium, and cation-anion difference

Corn silage (CS) has replaced alfalfa hay (AH) and haylage as the major forage fed to lactating dairy cows, yet many dairy producers believe that inclusion of small amounts of alfalfa hay or haylage improves feed intake and milk production. Alfalfa contains greater concentrations of K and Ca than corn silage and has an inherently higher dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD). Supplemental dietary buffers such as NaHCO₃ and K₂CO₃ increase DCAD and summaries of studies with these buffers showed improved performance in CS-based diets but not in AH-based diets. We speculated that improvements in performance with AH addition to CS-based diets could be due to differences in mineral and DCAD concentrations between the 2 forages. The objective of this experiment was to test the effects of forage (CS vs. AH) and mineral supplementation on production responses using 45 lactating Holstein cows during the first 20 wk postpartum. Dietary treatments included (1) 50:50 mixture of AH and CS as the forage (AHCS); (2) CS as the sole forage; and (3) CS fortified with mineral supplements (CaCO₃ and K₂CO₃) to match the Ca and K content of the AHCS diet (CS-DCAD). Feed intake and milk production were equivalent or greater for cows fed the CS and CS-DCAD diets compared with those fed the AHCS diet. Fat percentage was greater in cows fed the CS compared with the AHCS diet. Fat-corrected milk (FCM; 3.5%) tended to be greater in cows fed the CS and CS-DCAD diets compared with the AHCS diet. Feed efficiencies measured as FCM/dry matter intake were 1.76, 1.80, and 1.94 for the AHCS, CS, and CS-DCAD diets, respectively. The combined effects of reduced feed intake and increased FCM contributed to increased feed efficiency with the CS-DCAD diet, which contained 1.41% K compared with 1.18% K in the CS diet, and we speculate that this might be the result of added dietary K and DCAD effects on digestive efficiency. These results indicate no advantage to including AH in CS-based diets, but suggest that improving mineral supplementation in CS-based diets may increase feed efficiency.     

Bovine somatotropin and rumen-undegradable protein effects in prepubertal dairy heifers: effects on body composition and organ and tissue weights

The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of recombinant bovine somatotropin (bST) and added dietary rumen undegradable protein (RUP) on organ and tissue weights and body composition in growing dairy heifers. Thirty-two Holstein heifers were in the experiment, 8 killed initially at 3 mo of age, with the remaining 24 Holstein heifers randomly assigned to treatments (n = 6) consisting of 0.1 mg/kg of body weight per day of bST and 2% added dietary RUP (dry matter basis) applied in a 2 x2 factorial design. A total of 6 heifers per treatment group (3 each at 5 and 10 mo of age), were slaughtered to determine body composition and organ masses. Feed intake measured from group intakes were increased by 0.25 and 0.35 kg/d with bST and RUP, respectively. Administration of bST tended to increase the weights of visceral organs including heart, kidney, and spleen by 16, 16, and 38%, respectively. At 10 mo of age, there was a trend for increased empty body weights (EBW) and non-carcass components for heifers treated with bST, but there were no effects of RUP. Body components and organ weights, expressed as a percentage of BW were not affected by RUP or bST. Somatotropin increased ash weight at 10 mo without affecting amounts of protein, fat, and energy. Rates of ash deposition between 3 and 10 mo of age were increased 7 and 4 g/d by bST and RUP, respectively. There were no treatment effects on rates of body fat, protein, and energy deposition. Bovine somatotropin and RUP altered the metabolism of growing heifers in a manner that was consistent with increased rates of skeletal growth. This suggests that nutritional and endocrine manipulations could increase growth rates of skeletal tissues without increasing fat deposition in prepubertal dairy heifers.     

Effects of long daily photoperiod and bovine somatotropin (Trobest) on milk yield in cows.

Bovine somatotropin (bST) and exposure to long daily photoperiod increase milk yield of dairy cattle. We tested the hypothesis that long daily photoperiod and bST treatment would increase milk yield in an additive manner in lactating cows. At winter solstice, 40 lactating cows were started on a 140-d experiment; cows were greater than 70 d in milk (DIM) and were balanced for uniformity of DIM and milk yield within parity. Cows were randomly assigned to one of four treatments (10/treatment): 1) natural photoperiod, 2) natural photoperiod + bST (14 mg/d Trobest i.m.), 3) long daily photoperiod (18 h of light and 6 h of darkness/d), or 4) long daily photoperiod + bST. Long daily photoperiod increased fat-corrected milk (FCM) yield 1.9 kg/d versus natural photoperiod. Treatment with bST increased FCM 5.7 kg/d versus natural photoperiod, and long daily photoperiod + bST increased FCM 5.8 kg/d versus long daily photoperiod. Long daily photoperiod + bST was additive, increasing FCM 7.7 kg/d versus natural photoperiod. Serum somatotropin increased with bST, but not photoperiod, and bST increased serum insulin-like growth factor-I. Long daily photoperiod tended to increase prolactin; bST had no effect. Long daily photoperiod + bST increased dry matter intake (DMI) relative to natural photoperiod and natural photoperiod + bST; long daily photoperiod increased DMI relative to natural photoperiod + bST. Photoperiod had no effect on net energy balance; however, bST decreased net energy balance. Generally, body weight and milk composition did not differ among treatments. In conclusion, combination of bST with long-daily photoperiod tended to amplify the increases in milk yield observed with either treatment individually.     

Forage pH effects on intake in early lactation dairy cows

In Experiment 1, 18 mature Holstein cows were used in a single reversal design with 6-wk periods from wk 5 to 16 postpartum. Cows were fed for ad libitum consumption corn silage and grain separately in a 40:60 ratio where treatments consisted of a corn silage (pH = 3.64) or corn silage partially neutralized with sodium bicarbonate prior to feeding (pH = 5.44). Neutralization of corn silage increased forage DM intake 1.0 kg/d and total DM 1.3 kg/d. Milk fat percent was increased from 3.79 to 4.15. In Experiment 2, 17 mature Holstein cows were used in an identical design except that alfalfa haylage was used as the forage. Increasing alfalfa haylage pH from 4.62 to 5.45 had no effect on intake or milk production. Literature data means and data summarized from the present experiments in multiple regression analysis indicated that intake as a percentage of body weight = .96 + .88 pH - .077 pH2 (R2 = .65, n = 49). Optimal pH for maximum intake was 5.7. Intake responses to pH above 4.5 are relatively small and explain the differences in responses seen between corn silage and alfalfa haylage in Experiments 1 and 2.