能量对妊娠后期母羊健康及其羔羊的影响

妊娠后期是胎儿生长发育的关键时期,胎儿体重增长的80%在此阶段完成,因此该阶段母羊的能量需要量大于其他生理阶段。高产多胎是肉用种母羊的重要培育目标,当母羊处于营养水平较低的草场或舍饲条件下,怀双羔或多羔母羊的日粮能量水平不能满足其营养需要时,母羊会动用体内的糖原、体蛋白和体脂以弥补能量不足,致使母羊的代谢紊乱,肝机能受损,产生羊妊娠毒血症,影响母羊的健康和胚胎的健康生长,产出弱羔、病羔,并可能影响产后羔羊的健康生长。因此,研究妊娠后期能量水平对母羊健康、胚胎发育、羔羊生长及肉羊养殖业的发展都有重要的指导意义。作者对不同能量水平对妊娠母羊的健康、繁殖性能、泌乳性能、胚胎与羔羊生长的影响展开讨论,阐明妊娠后期能量的作用。当母羊妊娠后期能量受到限制时,母羊的体重降低,乳腺发育受阻,泌乳能力下降,受胎率下降;同时胚胎的生长速度降低,影响胚胎与产后羔羊组织器官发育和正常生长。     

薄型子宫内膜的中西医研究进展

目的 探究薄型子宫内膜的病因机制,分析临床现行的处理策略,加深对薄型子宫内膜的认识,更好地指导临床工作。方法 整理、分析最新薄型子宫内膜的中西医研究文献成果。结果 当代医学对薄型子宫内膜病因机制阐述颇多,处理策略多样,但均存在一定局限性,还未形成统一的治疗原则。中医治疗多以补肾活血为大法,显示出较好的优势。结论 学者对薄型子宫内膜病因的认知尚未形成共识,发病机制仍不明确,治疗效果各异。中西医治疗各有优势,较西医治疗,中药、针灸具有多靶点整合,整体网络调节等优点,成效显著,值得临床推广应用。     

壳寡糖对妊娠后期母猪免疫功能和仔猪初生重的影响

[目的]研究饲粮中添加壳寡糖对妊娠后期母猪免疫功能和仔猪初生重的影响,并探讨壳寡糖的适宜添加量。[方法]选择健康的、体重和预产期相近的四胎次"长×大"母猪35头,随机分为5组,每组7个重复,每个重复1头母猪。对照组饲喂基础饲粮(不添加壳寡糖),试验组Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ在基础饲粮中分别添加壳寡糖30、90、270和810 g/t。试验从母猪妊娠85 d开始,至产仔结束。[结果]饲粮中添加壳寡糖对仔猪初生重、母猪血清白介素2(IL-2)浓度和补体C3蛋白浓度均无显著影响(P0.05)。饲粮添加不同水平的壳寡糖显著提高母猪血清中溶菌酶的浓度(P0.05)。饲粮中添加不同水平的壳寡糖显著提高母猪血清猪瘟抗体sIgA的浓度(P0.05),而试验组Ⅰ和Ⅱ初乳中猪瘟抗体sIgA浓度无显著差异(P0.05),试验组Ⅲ和Ⅳ初乳母源猪瘟抗体sIgA浓度显著提高(P0.05)。[结论]妊娠后期母猪饲粮中壳寡糖的适宜添加量为270 g/t。     

牛妊娠相关糖蛋白ELISA对早期妊娠诊断效果的影响

选取273头荷斯坦奶牛,在人工输精后的28d和75d分别采用牛妊娠相关糖蛋白(PAG)ELISA和直肠检查的方法进行妊娠诊断,比较PAG ELISA和直肠检查法的结果,旨在评价PAG ELISA对配种28d的奶牛进行早期妊娠诊断的准确性。结果表明,PAG ELISA法妊娠诊断的敏感性、特异性、阳性预测值、阴性预测值和准确性分别为100%、75.5%、86.5%、100%和90.5%,与75d直肠检查结果相同,可用于母牛的早期妊娠诊断。妊娠诊断对于母牛保胎、分群管理及提高繁殖效率等具有非常重要的意义。     

基于空间漫反射光的母兔早期妊娠诊断装置研制

妊娠诊断是肉兔繁殖管理中的重要环节,尤其是早期妊娠诊断,可提前未妊娠母兔的再授精时间,提高种兔利用率,缩短繁殖周期。针对人工摸胎诊断法存在对母兔腹内胚胎产生机械损伤、母兔应激反应大及对工人经验要求高等缺陷,该研究基于妊娠母兔与未妊娠母兔腹内有无孕囊组织所引起的光学特性差异,提出一种基于空间漫反射光的母兔妊娠诊断方法,研制了快速、无侵入式的便携诊断装置。该装置由具有2个红外发光二极管（Light Emitting Diode,LED,LED发光波长分别为850和930 nm）、3个硅基光电二极管和外围电路的传感探头和信号处理主机组成。利用该便携诊断装置采集130只人工授精14 d后的母兔（包括63只妊娠母兔和67只未妊娠母兔）腹部漫反射光强度数据,将采集的数据按照7∶3的比例划分为训练集和测试集,训练集数据分别用于建立偏最小二乘判别分析（Partial Least Squares Discrimination Analysis, PLS-DA）模型和支持向量机（Support Vector Machine, SVM）分类模型,测试集数据用于模型性能测试,并对比两种模型的分类性能。同时,利用PLS-DA对采样数据进行有监督的主成分分析和变量重要性分析,结果表明妊娠母兔与未妊娠母兔的采样数据之间存在差异,可以被较好的分类。对比两种分类模型的分类性能发现SVM对妊娠母兔和未妊娠母兔的分类性能均比PLS-DA好,对测试集数据的灵敏度、特异性和准确率分别为80.95%、83.33%和82.05%。研究结果表明,该研究提出的光学妊娠诊断方法可行,研制的诊断装置可对授精14 d后的母兔进行妊娠诊断,对提高兔产业体系智能化装备水平有积极的促进作用。     

Ectopic pregnancy through a caesarean scar in a ewe

CASE HISTORY: A routine ultrasonographic examination for pregnancy diagnosis in a 3-year-old ewe revealed a normal embryo located in the uterine cavity and an abnormal mass located in the abdomen. At the time of examination, the ewe was 4.5?months pregnant, but 10?months previously she had undergone a caesarean section due to dystocia.

CLINICAL FINDINGS: The abnormal mass (12?cm × 8?cm) was located outside the uterine cavity; it was anechoic at the periphery, and in the centre there was an echogenic embryo-like structure. Exploratory laparotomy was performed, which revealed an ectopic pregnancy through the caesarean scar.

TREATMENT: The ectopic foetus was excised and the caesarean scar was repaired. The ewe made a complete recovery and the intrauterine pregnancy was completed to full-term, resulting in the birth of a healthy female lamb 35?days after the removal of the ectopic foetus.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Ectopic pregnancies have previously been described in ewes. As far as the authors are aware, this is the first report of an ectopic pregnancy through a caesarean scar in sheep or any other farm animal species.     

Dystocia in beef heifers: A review of genetic and nutritional influences

Breeding beef heifers for the first time at 15 months of age has potential to increase the efficiency of the beef breeding-cow herd. An increased incidence of dystocia in heifers calving at 2 years of age, compared to mature cows, is a major reason many farmers in New Zealand have not adopted the practice. The predominant type of dystocia affecting 2-year-old heifers is feto-maternal disproportion, a condition in which the fetus is too large relative to the size of the heifer's pelvis. Reducing birthweight of the calf is a means of reducing the incidence of dystocia. Birthweight and length of gestation are determined by genotype of the calf, maternal genetic effects and environmental effects.

Bulls with low estimated breeding values for birthweight have been selected for mating heifers; however, the positive genetic correlation between birthweight and mature weight meant that the progeny of these bulls tended to be lighter at finishing, making them less desirable in the beef industry. The genotype of the dam also plays a role in determining the risk of dystocia; the maternal ability of the dam to nurture the fetus influences birth- weight, and the dam's genetic potential for growth influences the size of her pelvic area. Heavy heifers tend to produce high- birthweight calves, counteracting the reduction in the incidence of dystocia resulting from the larger pelvis in larger heifers.

Manipulating feeding level during pregnancy offers an alternative method for manipulating the birthweight of calves. Little is known about the effects of nutrition in early gestation on placental development or birthweight of calves. No differences in the birthweight of calves have been observed in response to variation in feeding in mid-pregnancy, and variable responses in birthweight and the incidence of dystocia to feeding in the third trimester of pregnancy have been reported. Differences in birthweight have not always resulted in differences in the incidence of dystocia, primarily due to differences in liveweight of the heifer also induced by feeding regimens. Variability in the incidence of dystocia in response to feeding level in the third trimester of pregnancy makes it difficult to make recommendations for the feeding of heifers at this stage of gestation. More research is needed into the effects of nutrition in early gestation on fetal and placental development in cattle.     

Bodyweight and serum copper concentrations of farmed red deer stags following oral copper oxide wire administration

A diagnosis of secondary copper deficiency was established on a deer farm with a peat soil type, on the basis of confirmed enzootic ataxia in hinds, liver and serum copper concentrations and pasture and soil element analyses. Seventy-four weaner stags were selected for a trial to investigate a growth response to copper supplementation.

Thirty-seven red and red x wapiti type stags were treated with 4g copper oxide wire particles at four months of age (April). A further 8g copper oxide wire was given in June. Thirty-seven untreated animals acted as controls. Body weights were measured on five occasions, from April 24 to November 26. Serum copper analyses were undertaken on ten deer prior to commencement of the trial, and on seven treated and eight control deer in June, July and October.

Serum copper concentrations ranged from 2.0 to 19.3μmol/l prior to the trial. In June, July and October serum copper ranged from 0.1–6.7, 0.6–5.0, and 1.3–6.3μmol/l respectively, in control deer. In treated deer concentrations ranged from 7.2–14.7, 5.2–10.8, and 6.9–13.7µmoM in June, July and October respectively. The difference between mean copper concentration at each post-treatment sampling date was highly significant, (P<0.001). At the conclusion of the trial (November 26) the treated deer averaged 3.lkg heavier than controls, but this difference was not statistically significant.

In view of these results and the variation in growth response trials in other species, further investigation of the effects of copper on the growth of young deer is warranted.     

Pancreatic insulin release and peripheral insulin sensitivity in German black headed mutton and Finish Landrace ewes: evaluation of the role of insulin resistance in the susceptibility to ovine pregnancy toxemia

German black headed mutton (GBM) ewes are recognized as being highly susceptible to ovine pregnancy toxemia (OPT). The present trial was performed to evaluate whether a breed-dependent gestational diabetes mellitus-like insulin resistance during late pregnancy might be responsible for the high incidence of OPT in the GBM breed. Modified frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance tests (300 mg glucose and 0.03 IU insulin per kg of BW) were performed during mid and late pregnancy, the periparturient, and the dry period in polytocous 3.5-yr-old GBM and Finnish Landrace (FL) ewes fed according to their requirements. The corresponding blood samples were analyzed for plasma concentrations of glucose, insulin, nonesterified fatty acids (NEFAs) and β-hydroxybutyrate (β-HB). In addition, the baseline plasma cortisol concentrations were determined during late pregnancy. The BW gain during pregnancy and the rearing success did not differ between the GBM and FL ewes. In both breeds, late pregnancy was associated with decreased basal plasma glucose concentrations and enhanced glucose disposal, as well as elevated baseline β-HB values. Only in the GBM ewes did the plasma NEFA concentrations increase significantly during advancing pregnancy. Moreover, significantly higher baseline plasma NEFA concentrations as well as lower (P < 0.05) basal plasma glucose values were recorded during late pregnancy in the GBM than in the FL ewes. The first-phase insulin secretion, the peripheral insulin sensitivity, and the baseline plasma cortisol values did not differ between both breeds during late pregnancy. It is concluded that increased lipolysis during late pregnancy is a characteristic of the GBM breed. Moreover, elevated plasma NEFA concentrations may contribute to impaired pancreatic insulin response and peripheral insulin resistance in GBM ewes and thus promote OPT.