The Effect of Ryegrass Silage Feeding on Equine Fecal Microbiota and Blood Metabolite Profile

Silage is fed to horses in China and other areas in the world, however, knowledge about the impact of feeding silage on horse health is still limited. In the current study, 12 horses were assigned into two groups and fed ryegrass silage and ryegrass hay, respectively, for 8 weeks. High-throughput sequencing was applied to analyze fecal microbiota, while liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) based metabolomics technique was used for blood metabolite profile to investigate the influence of feeding ryegrass silage (group S) compared to feeding ryegrass hay (group H) on equine intestinal and systemic health. Horses in group S had significantly different fecal microbiota and blood metabolomes from horses in group H. The results showed that Verrucomicrobia was significantly less abundant which plays important role in maintaining the mucus layer of the hindgut. Rikenellaceae and Christensenellaceae were markedly more abundant in group S and Rikenellaceae may be associated with some gut diseases and obesity. The metabolomics analysis demonstrated that ryegrass silage feeding significantly affected lipid metabolism and insulin resistance in horses, which might be associated with metabolic dysfunction. Furthermore, Pearson’s correlation analysis revealed some correlations between bacterial taxa and blood metabolites, which added more evidence to diet-fecal microbiota-health relationship. Overall, ryegrass silage feeding impacted systemic metabolic pathways in horses, especially lipid metabolism. This study provides evidence of effects of feeding ryegrass silage on horses, which may affect fat metabolism and potentially increase risk of insulin resistance. Further investigation will be promoted to provide insight into the relationship of a silage-based diet and equine health.

The effects of shearing and ascorbyl palmitate administration on physiological and blood metabolite profile of Padjadjaran sheep under heat exposure treatment

Ascorbyl-6-palmitate (AP) was a lipid-soluble synthetic ester of ascorbic acid that has been used as a preservation agent for foods and as an antioxidant in cosmetics and related products. This study aims to investigate the effect of shearing management and ascorbyl palmitate administration on physiological and hematological profiles in under heat load Padjadjaran sheep. The physiological profile involves respiration rate (RR), Pulse rate (PR), and rectal temperature (RT). Twenty rams Padjadjaran 1 – 1,5 year-old, weighing between 25 to 47.5 kg used from sheep breeding station Purwakarta, West Java - Indonesia. There are two treatments level in this research, (1). Shearing divide into two groups, unshearing (c0) and shearing (c1); (2). AP administration also divides two groups, not given (a0) and given 400 mg each head daily (a1). The whole treatments were a0c0, a0c1, a1c0 and a1c1. Heat exposure application was exposed to sunlight when the sheep exposed, the animal tethered by rope at the neck region. The sheep exposed to the sun when the ambient temperature at least 34oC, 180 minutes each day, three days a week. The result showed that AP administration and shearing have interaction effects on RR, PR and RT. The level of glucose and total protein is affected by interaction effect of AP administration and shearing, while cholesterol affected to shearing. The conclusion, supplementing AP and shearing application could reduce the negative impact of heat stress on physiological and blood metabolite profiles of Padjadjaran sheep. Although the wool of local breed has not economic value, the shearing is regularly needed.

Presymptomatic Dutch-Type Hereditary Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy-Related Blood Metabolite Alterations

Background: Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is one of the major causes of intracerebral hemorrhage and vascular dementia in older adults. Early diagnosis will provide clinicians with an opportunity to intervene early with suitable strategies, highlighting the importance of pre-symptomatic CAA biomarkers. Objective: Investigation of pre-symptomatic CAA related blood metabolite alterations in Dutch-type hereditary CAA mutation carriers (D-CAA MCs). Methods: Plasma metabolites were measured using mass-spectrometry (AbsoluteIDQ® p400 HR kit) and were compared between pre-symptomatic D-CAA MCs (n = 9) and non-carriers (D-CAA NCs, n = 8) from the same pedigree. Metabolites that survived correction for multiple comparisons were further compared between D-CAA MCs and additional control groups (cognitively unimpaired adults). Results: 275 metabolites were measured in the plasma, 22 of which were observed to be significantly lower in theD-CAAMCs compared to D-CAA NCs, following adjustment for potential confounding factors age, sex, and APOE ε4 (p < 00.05). After adjusting for multiple comparisons, only spermidine remained significantly lower in theD-CAAMCscompared to theD-CAA NCs (p < 0.00018). Plasma spermidine was also significantly lower in D-CAA MCs compared to the cognitively unimpaired young adult and older adult groups (p < 0.01). Spermidinewas also observed to correlate with CSF Aβ40 (rs = 0.621, p = 0.024), CSF Aβ42 (rs = 0.714, p = 0.006), and brain Aβ load (rs = –0.527, p = 0.030). Conclusion: The current study provides pilot data on D-CAA linked metabolite signals, that also associated with Aβ neuropathology and are involved in several biological pathways that have previously been linked to neurodegeneration and dementia.

Hematological and blood metabolite response in relation to the conception rate of Pasundan cows with synchronized estrous and ovulation

Twenty pasundan cows were divided into two treatments int his study aims to determine the correlation between hematological and blood metabolite on the conception rate of Pasundan cows with synchronized estrus and ovulation. Twenty pasundan cows were divided into two treatments 1) estrus synchronization through double injection 5 ml PGF2α , 2)combination of 5 ml PGF2α per cow and 2.5 ml GnRH per cow intramuscularly. The heat of cow is immediately inseminated 2 times with an interval of 6 hours. The observed variables were estrus percentage, conception rate, erythrocyte, leucocyte, hemoglobin, β-hydroxy butyric acid (BHBA), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and non esterificated acid (NEFA). Data were processed by analysis of variance and correlation- regression. The result showed that PGF2α with GnRH injection resulted in a better conception rate than that of PGF2α (70% vs 60%), the average plasma concentration of erythrocyte, leucocyte, hemoglobin, NEFA, BUN, and BHBA levels respectively was 6.61±0.19 million/µl, 11.30±0.35 thousand/µl, 10.63±0.35 g/dL, 1.65±018 mmol/L, 10.28±1.50 mg/dL, 21.46±1.96 mg/dL. The data obtained were performed variance analysis and correlation regression analysis using SPSS 16.0. The results of the regression analysis showed that the concentration of erythrocytes, leucocytes, hemoglobin, NEFA, BUN, and BHBA had a significant relationship (P<0.05) with pregnancy, and coefficient of determination were 86.4%, 69.1%, 98.3%, -11.7%, -8.2%, -7.0%, respectively. It was concluded that the pregnancy of Pasundan cows has a strong relation between the conception rates with hematological, however blood metabolites showed a weak relation and inversely proportional.