Glucagon‐related peptides and the regulation of food intake in chickens

The regulatory mechanisms underlying food intake in chickens have been a focus of research in recent decades to improve production efficiency when raising chickens. Lines of evidence have revealed that a number of brain‐gut peptides function as a neurotransmitter or peripheral satiety hormone in the regulation of food intake both in mammals and chickens. Glucagon, a 29 amino acid peptide hormone, has long been known to play important roles in maintaining glucose homeostasis in mammals and birds. However, the glucagon gene encodes various peptides that are produced by tissue‐specific proglucagon processing: glucagon is produced in the pancreas, whereas oxyntomodulin (OXM), glucagon‐like peptide (GLP)‐1 and GLP‐2 are produced in the intestine and brain. Better understanding of the roles of these peptides in the regulation of energy homeostasis has led to various physiological roles being proposed in mammals. For example, GLP‐1 functions as an anorexigenic neurotransmitter in the brain and as a postprandial satiety hormone in the peripheral circulation. There is evidence that OXM and GLP‐2 also induce anorexia in mammals. Therefore, it is possible that the brain‐gut peptides OXM, GLP‐1 and GLP‐2 play physiological roles in the regulation of food intake in chickens. More recently, a novel GLP and its specific receptor were identified in the chicken brain. This review summarizes current knowledge about the role of glucagon‐related peptides in the regulation of food intake in chickens.     

植物提取物应用于水产饲料的研究进展

植物提取物因其安全、绿色和高效等特点已成为目前替代抗生素的研究热点。植物提取物含有多种有效成分,具有多种生理活性,应用于不同水产动物效果不同。本文分别从诱食性、促生长、免疫增强、抗氧化应激和抗病原菌五个方面,综述了植物提取物在水产饲料中的最新研究进展,为开发环保型饲料添加剂提供理论参考。     

动物食欲调节的中枢信号通路

下丘脑是动物食欲调节的中枢，外周食欲信号在下丘脑中经食欲调节网络整合，产生饱感或饥饿。其中，以 ５′－磷酸腺苷激活的蛋白激酶（ＡＭＰＫ）调控位点上的 ＡＭＰＫ-ＡＣＣ-ＣＰＴ１和 ＵＣＰ２-ＦＯＸＯ１-ｐＣＲＥＢ信号通路以及雷帕霉素靶蛋白（ｍＴＯＲ）调控位点上的 ＰＩ３Ｋ-Ａｋｔ-ｍＴＯＲ和 ｍＴＯＲ-４ＥＢＰ１／ｐ７０Ｓ６Ｋ-ＮＰＹ／ＡｇＲＰ信号通路尤为重要。ＡＭＰＫ和 ｍＴＯＲ在 ＡＭＰＫ-ＴＳＣ ｍＴＯＲ通路、固醇类调节因子绑定蛋白（ＳＲＥＢＰ）基因表达和吞噬启动激酶（Ｕｌｋ１）活性通路上存在互作。外周营养和能量信号传输到下丘脑后，经过这些网络的传输和分析，作用于下丘脑中的食欲相关肽，最终调控动物的采食行为。     

肠道激素和食欲的关系

食欲的调控涉及到中枢和外周神经系统和内分泌系统。最近的研究结果显示一些消化道激素(ghre lin、神经肽YY、胰多肽、GLP-1和胃泌酸调节素)在有下丘脑调控的食欲过程中扮演一定的生理角色。这表明消化道激素食欲调控系统可能是研发抗肥胖病药物以及调节动物食欲的一个有潜力的对象。     

Dynamics of appetite in three fish species (Gasterosteus aculeatus, Phoxinus phoxinus and Carassius auratus gibelio) after feed deprivation

The temporal dynamics of appetite (weight of food consumed per day) were analysed for fish fed to satiation after a 1 or 2-week period of feed deprivation. Three species were compared: two omnivores (minnow, Phoxinus phoxinus and gibel carp, Carassius auratus gibelio) and a carnivore (three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus). All species showed compensatory changes in appetite and growth during the re-feeding period but in the stickleback, there was a lag of a week before the compensatory response was detected. The temporal dynamics of appetite differed between the three species but not within a species. Appetite of the minnow declined towards control levels from the onset of re-feeding. In gibel carp, appetite increased to a peak and then declined to control levels. In the stickleback, appetite was initially below control levels, increased to a maximum, then declined towards control levels. The differences between the species might have been artefacts of the experimental protocols used but could also reflect underlying differences in the control of appetite in these species of fish.     

Preliminary clinical pharmacological investigations of tylosin and tiamulin in chickens

Summary

The minimal inhibitory concentrations (M1C) of tiamulin and tylosin for mycoplasma. Gram‐positive, and Gram‐negative micro‐organisms isolated from chickens were determinated by the agar dilution method. Median M1C values for tiamulin against Mycoplasma gallisepticum (0.05 μg/ml) and Mycoplasma synoviae (0.10 μg/ml) were 2 to 4 times lower than the corresponding values for tylosin. Tiamulin was also slightly more effective in vitro in inhibiting Escherichia coli, Pasteurella multocida, and beta‐haemolytic streptococci than was tylosin. Groups of chicken were offered tiamulin medicated drinking water at rates of 125 and 250 mg/litre for 48 hours. Average serum tiamulin concentrations were 0.38 and 0.78 μg/ml, respectively. When tylosin tartrate was added to the drinking water at 500 and 700 mg/litre, average serum drug levels were 0.12 and 0.17 μg/ml, respectively.

Tiamulin was 45% bound in chicken serum, as against 30% serum protein binding or tylosin. Correlations were made between free (non protein bound) serum drug levels and the MIC values of the two drugs. Such comparisons suggest that when tiamulin is given in the drinking water at rates of 125 to 250 mg/litre, better antimycoplasmal activity is to be expected in vivo than by giving tylosin tartrate in the drinking water at 500 to 700 mg/litre. Based on these data, no clinical efficacy of these dose rates can be expected in flocks infected by gram‐negative microorganisms such as E. coli or P. multocida. The tylosin tartrate rate of 500 to 700 mg/litre, may be clinical ineffective the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infections.     

Assessing appetite of the swimming fish based on spontaneous collective behaviors in a recirculating aquaculture system

In order to realize the real-time appetite-based feeding in aquaculture, a novel and practical method, based on the quantification of the spontaneous collective behaviors, was proposed in this study to assess the real-time appetite of the swimming fish in a recirculating aquaculture system. First, foreground feature points of fish school were extracted using an improved complex network. Then, covariance, a modified social force model and a kinetic energy model were used to analyze the collective behaviors of the school from perspectives of dispersion degree, interaction force and the changing magnitude of the water flow field, respectively. Finally, the quantified behavioral characteristics were integrated and used to assess the appetite of fish school. The presented method shows its good performance in the expression of the collective behaviors representing five typical appetites (0.01, 0.52, 1.28, 2.26 and 2.92), and the assessing accuracy of the appetite of the school is also maintained at a low non-match rate ((2.19 ± 0.81)% best) in the context of ten different sampling durations.     

A double‐blind,placebo‐controlled,randomized study to evaluate the weight gain drug,mirtazapine transdermal ointment,in cats with unintended weight loss

Mirtazapine is classified as a weight gain drug in cats, and the purpose of this study was to evaluate its efficacy in cats experiencing unintended weight loss. This was a multi‐center, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, randomized clinical study in client‐owned cats ≥1 year of age, weighing ≥2 kg, with a documented loss (≥5%) in body weight. Cats were treated once daily with either 2 mg/cat mirtazapine transdermal ointment (n = 83) or placebo (n = 94) (Per Protocol population) applied to the inner surface of the pinna for 14 ± 3 days. Physical examination, body weight, complete blood count, serum chemistry, and urinalysis were performed prior to treatment and on Day 14. Changes in body weight between the mirtazapine and placebo groups were evaluated from Day 1 to Day 14 and compared using a two‐sample t test. The mean percent change in body weight was +3.9% (standard deviation ±5.4%) in the mirtazapine group and +0.4% (±3.3%) in the placebo group (p < 0.0001). The most common adverse event was mild erythema at the application site in 17.4% of placebo and 10.4% of mirtazapine‐treated cats. Application of mirtazapine transdermal ointment was well tolerated both topically and systemically and resulted in significant weight gain in cats experiencing unintended weight loss associated with various underlying diseases.     

营养物质对鱼类食欲的影响

寻找理想鱼粉替代物是近20年动物营养学的研究热点之一,尽管在肉食性鱼类中鱼粉替代物因适口性差、消化率低、氨基酸不平衡和存在抗营养因子等原因导致其替代比例较低,然而,随着鱼粉供求关系的进一步不平衡,替代鱼粉已成为肉食性鱼类养殖可持续发展的必然要求。因此,如何提高肉食性鱼类对鱼粉替代物的利用率成为了鱼粉替代研究的瓶颈。本文从食欲的角度,综述各种营养物质对食欲的影响,以便利用营养措施来人为调控鱼类的食欲,从而提高饲料利用率。     

High dietary energy level stimulates growth hormone receptor and feed utilization in large Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) under hypoxic conditions

This study examines how appetite and growth regulation of Atlantic salmon are affected by low dissolved oxygen (LO) and dietary digestible energy levels (DE: high [HE] vs. low [LE]). Long‐term exposure to LO resulted in a reduced feed intake, growth, digestible protein and fat retention efficiencies and increased feed conversation ratio and plasma ghrelin concentrations (p < .05) compared to high dissolved oxygen (HO). Pair‐feeding of rations based on the feed intake of the LO groups, but fed at HO, resulted in a 50% growth improvement in HE diet groups. This suggests that the poor growth under LO was not entirely caused by the reduced feed intake. Salmon adapted to LO by increased haemoglobin concentrations, while osmoregulation was affected by increased plasma chloride concentrations (p < .05). Plasma ghrelin concentration was unaffected by DE (p > .05). Growth regulation was affected by the HE diet, with increased liver and muscle growth hormone receptor ghr1 mRNA (p < .05), regardless of oxygen level. The growth depression due to low oxygen appears to be related to higher metabolic costs, while higher DE upregulates the GH‐IGF system at the ghr1 level and found to be beneficial for growth, feed intake, oxyregulation and osmoregulation under hypoxia.