Incorporation of sunflower oil or linseed oil in equine compound feedstuff: 1 Effects on haematology and on fatty acids profiles in the red blood cells membranes

Eight trained horses (6 mares – 2 geldings, 6 Selle Français, 2 Trotteur Français, 12 ± 5.8 years old, 538 ± 72.5 kg) were offered three diets to potentially affect haematology and the fatty acids (FA) profiles in red blood cells (RBC) membranes. The control diet was composed of 50% hay and 50% concentrate containing mainly rolled barley (48%) and whole spelt (48%). In the case of sunflower oil diet, sunflower oil (62.0% of α‐linoleic acid, LA) was incorporated at a rate of 8% and substituted by an equal proportion of barley. In the linseed oil diet, first cold‐pressed linseed oil (56.0% of α‐linolenic acid, ALA) was utilised at a similar incorporation rate of 8%. The experimental design consisted of three 3 × 3 latin squares with one being incomplete. Each period lasted 8 weeks. On average, the total feed intake (straw excluded) was 6.2 kg/day and the oil intake 0.278 kg/day. The oils significantly increased the concentrations of RBC, haemoglobin and haematocrit. The oils had no significant impact on the haematology profiles except that platelets tended to decrease in both oil‐based diets. The most abundant FA in the RBC membranes of the control diet samples were in the decreasing order LA, C18:1n9‐7, C18:0, C16:0 and the arachidonic acid (ARA) respectively. The sunflower oil supplementation slightly increased the amount of LA (36.23 vs. 34.72 mg/dl, p = 0.55) and C22:4n‐6 (0.21 vs. 0.09 mg/dl, p = 0.22), while the decrease was observed in case of other FA (C16:1n‐7, 1.08 vs. 1.42 mg/dl, p = 0.03), C20:3n‐6 (0.22 vs. 0.31 mg/dl, p = 0.02), and ARA (1.17 vs. 1.63 mg/dl, p = 0.08). Linseed oil induced similar effects in the n‐6 series FA profiles. In the context of practical applications, our results show that linseed oil incorporation in the diet could improve the haematology and the n‐3 FA profiles potentially leading to an increased performance.     

The suitability of some blood gas and biochemical parameters as diagnostic tools or early indicators of ascites syndrome in broiler sire lines

In recent few years, there have been some attempts to find a reliable indicator trait as a selection criterion against susceptibility to ascites syndrome (AS). Blood parameters were of great interest as they could be measured in live animals without implementing an ascites‐inducing challenge (AIC). In this work, the suitability of some blood parameters was evaluated for diagnosing AS‐susceptible chicks in later steps of the disease in trial 1 as well as their early predictive ability in trial 2. In the first trial, one hundred 1‐day‐old chicks from two pure broiler lines namely S₁ and S₂ and, in the second trial, 226 1‐day‐old chicks from line S₂ were subjected to AIC. Saline drinking water (1200 mg/l) and lower‐than‐standard ambient temperatures were the implemented AICs in trials 1 and 2 respectively. The blood parameters including pH, partial pressure of O₂ (pO₂), partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂), bicarbonate ion concentration (BIC), percentage of haematocrit (HCT) and saturated haemoglobin (SaO₂) were measured twice per each bird at days 28 and 35 in trial 1 and once in trial 2 at day 21. The results of the first trial revealed that in line S₂ some of the blood parameters differed significantly between the ascitic and non‐ascitic groups following exposure to AIC. In this line, the incidence of AS was accompanied by a lower pO₂, SaO₂ and BIC, while with higher pCO₂ and HCT values. In the second trial, however, although almost all of the parameters showed meaningful differences between the ascitic and non‐ascitic broilers, only mean difference of BIC parameter was statistically significant. The general conclusion of this study is that the blood parameters can somewhat have diagnostic ability in the condition in which the AIC is already present, whereas the results did not approve their usefulness as early predictors of AS.     

Physiological and biochemical changes of females of Piracanjuba,subjected to induced reproduction

The aim of this experiment was to compare the level of fish female stress during induced reproduction with pituitary extract by two different methods, natural and semiextruded. The reproductive efficiency was 62.5% in the seminatural treatment and 100% in the extruded. Obtained egg volume was 5200 ml and 4000 ml, for seminatural and extruded treatments respectively. The mean number of eggs was 46.7 for the seminatural and 52.0 and for the extruded treatment. The percentage of viable eggs was, respectively, 87.2% and 8.17% for the natural treatment and extruded semimethods. Blood samples were collected to quantify cortisol and glucose levels, as well as red cell series and lymphocyte count. Fishes submitted to induction procedures showed elevated cortisol and glucose levels, compared to the control animals. The results for haematocrit, haemoglobin concentration and red blood cell count showed no significant differences among groups. Significant differences found in the number of lymphocytes and monocytes suggest the general adaptation syndrome. Our results suggest the reproductive induction process with extrusion of gametes as a more stressful method than seminatural reproduction process.     

Effects of dietary Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bacillus subtilis on laying performance,egg quality,blood biochemistry and immune response of organic laying hens

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of two different probiotic micro‐organisms on the performance, egg quality and blood parameters of organically reared hens. A total of 900 16‐week‐old Hy‐Line layer hybrids were randomly assigned to three groups of 300 birds each. The control (CTR) group was fed a corn–soya bean cake‐based diet; the L group was fed the same diet supplemented with 0.1% Lactobacillus acidophilus, while the B group was fed the same diet supplemented with 0.05% Bacillus subtilis. Data were recorded at the beginning (weeks 5 and 6: T1) and at the end (weeks 19 and 20: T2) of the experiment, and no differences in hen performance were recorded between dietary groups or sampling times. All of the investigated clinical chemistry parameters, except GGT, were affected by diet (p < 0.05), with the best results recorded for the probiotic‐treated groups. The immune‐response values showed higher blood bactericidal activity in the B and L groups at T2 (p < 0.05) and a lower lysozime concentration in the B group at T1. Higher antibody production against Newcastle disease virus was observed in the L group compared to the CTR (p = 0.013). No differences in oxidative status were recorded, and no effects of diet on egg quality were observed. Among the physical egg characteristics, only the Roche scale colour was affected by diet (p < 0.05): the egg yolk was paler in the L group. The age of the hen was the most relevant factor affecting physical egg characteristics. The chemical parameters of the egg were almost unaffected by supplementation with probiotics except for the lipid content, which decreased with the L diet (p < 0.05). Both probiotic inclusions had beneficial effects on hen metabolism and welfare, and L. acidophilus induced the best immune response.     

The influences of ambient temperature and crude protein levels on performance and serum biochemical parameters in broilers

This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of ambient temperature, crude protein levels and their interaction on performance and serum biochemical parameters of broiler chickens. A total of 216 Arbor Acre broiler chickens (108 males and 108 females) were used in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement and randomly reared at two temperatures (normal temperature: 23 °C; daily cyclic high temperature: 28–32 °C) and fed on three diets with different crude protein levels (153.3, 183.3 or 213.3 g/kg, with constant essential amino acids) from 28 to 42 days of age. Daily cyclic high ambient temperature decreased final body weight, average daily weight gain, average daily feed intake and serum total protein contents (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p = 0.008 respectively), but increased feed/gain, mortality, respiratory rate, rectal temperature, serum uric acid contents and serum creatine kinase activity (p = 0.008, p = 0.003, p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001, p = 0.003 respectively), irrespective of crude protein levels. At the ambient temperature, reducing crude protein levels resulted in an increase in feed/gain (p < 0.001), but a decrease in serum total protein and uric acid contents. Only serum creatine kinase activity in broiler chickens was interacted by daily cyclic high ambient temperature and dietary crude protein levels (p = 0.003). These results indicated that daily cyclic high ambient temperature had a great effect on performance and serum biochemical parameters in broiler chickens, whereas dietary crude protein levels affected them partially.     

氯化钙对野葛块根低温贮藏生理生化指标的影响

研究氯化钙对野葛低温贮藏生理生化指标的影响.结果表明:在2%的氯化钙处理下,4℃低温可明显抑制贮藏期间块根含水量的下降,并且可使可溶性蛋白和可溶性总糖含量增加,有利于野葛块根采后的贮藏.     

不同驱虫药驱虫后伊犁马血液生化指标变化的研究

[目的] 研究不同驱虫药对伊犁马血液生化指标的影响,为伊犁马科学驱虫及健康养殖提供参考。[方法] 将平均体重（265.5±35.6）kg、出生日期相近的40匹1岁伊犁马随机分为5组,每组8匹,分别为对照组、试验Ⅰ组、试验Ⅱ组、试验Ⅲ组和试验Ⅳ组。在相同的饲养管理和日粮营养水平条件下,对照组不驱虫,在试验开始第1天,试验Ⅰ组使用伊维菌素驱虫,试验Ⅱ组使用吡喹酮驱虫,试验Ⅲ组使用阿苯达唑驱虫,试验Ⅳ组使用伊维菌素和阿苯达唑的混合药剂驱虫;在试验第14天采集马匹血液样品,测定血浆氮代谢指标、葡萄糖及酶相关指标、脂代谢指标及金属离子指标。[结果] ①试验Ⅲ组总蛋白（TP）浓度最低,与对照组、试验Ⅰ组、试验Ⅱ组及试验Ⅳ组相比,分别降低了8.16%、7.15%、4.98%及6.62%（P>0.05）。对照组及各试验组白蛋白（ALB）、尿素（UREA）浓度均无显著（P>0.05）差异。与对照组相比,试验Ⅲ组及试验Ⅳ组血浆中UREA浓度分别降低了33.15%及36.10%（P>0.05）。②与对照组相比,试验Ⅰ组、试验Ⅱ组、试验Ⅲ组、试验Ⅳ组丙氨酸氨基转移酶（ALT）活力分别降低了26.51%、21.11%、47.14%及52.38%（P>0.05）。试验Ⅲ组血浆中碱性磷酸酶（ALP）活力低于对照组,降低了0.19%（P>0.05）。与对照组相比,试验Ⅱ组和试验Ⅳ组的乳酸脱氢酶（LDH）活力显著（P<0.05）升高,分别提高了17.84%、13.51%;谷草转氨酶（AST）活力分别提高了5.40%和4.08%（P>0.05）。③对照组血浆中甘油三酯（TG）、肌酐（CREA）及尿酸（UA）的含量与各试验组相比均无显著（P>0.05）差异。试验Ⅰ组及试验Ⅳ组血浆中CREA浓度较对照组分别提高13.38%和9.86%（P>0.05）。试验Ⅱ组血浆中胆碱酯酶（CHE）活力显著（P<0.05）高于试验Ⅲ组,提高了17.70%。④对照组血浆中Mg²⁺浓度与各试验组相比差异不显著（P>0.05）;试验Ⅲ组血浆中Ca²⁺浓度最低,与对照组、试验Ⅰ组、试验Ⅱ组及试验Ⅳ组相比,分别降低了23.44%、16.40%、25.89%及21.43%（P<0.05）。[结论] 综合来看,使用伊维菌素和阿苯达唑混合驱虫,对伊犁马血浆中的氮代谢、糖脂代谢指标及肝功能代谢酶活力改善效果更明显。     

Ecotourist trail-use affects the taxonomic,functional and phylogenetic diversity of mammals in a protected area: lessons for conservation management

Ecotourism, by definition, aims to engage peoples’ interest in wildlife and the environment. The use of tourist roads and trails to access sites within protected areas (PAs) can detrimentally affect the behavior and distribution of species. The way mammals respond to anthropogenic pressures may differ across taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic groups; nevertheless, how ecotourist trail-use affects these different diversity remains under-investigated. Here, we assessed 6 metrics of taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity for a mammal community in a PA in central China, recording how Trail use (using Trail type as a proxy) and habitat variables affected sightings and signs of mammals across 60 replicate 0.5 km transects. We then examined how Trail use affected the taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity indices of species (>1 kg). Using generalized liner mixed modeling, we identified that more used trail types had a greater adverse effect on all diversity richness indices than did less used trail types. Consequently, tourist pressure was associated with a general tendency to homogenize the site's mammal community. In contrast, the effects of Trail Types on all diversity evenness indices were non-significant. Furthermore, more developed and more heavily used trail types had a greater, significant negative effect on taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic richness, whereas these richness indices were unaffected by minor trail types, used less intensively. As a general principle, lower biodiversity indices reduce ecosystem resilience, and so it is vital to better understand these responses to balance public access against biodiversity management in PAs.