SULPHUR DEFICIENCY IN DAIRY CALVES REARED ON PASTURE OF Brachiaria decumbens

Abstract

The clinical picture of sulphur (S) deficiency is described by the first time in Brazilian dairy calves. Twelve crossbred six-month-old weaned dairy calves, reared on pasture of S-deficient Brachiaria decumbens, were used. The calves were randomly assigned in two groups of six calves each to verify the influence of S supplementation on some clinical and serum biochemical variables. All animals were fed a basal-supplement mix containing macro and microlements, urea and ground corn grain added (41gS/kg) or not of S (elemental S; 1g S/kg), for six months. At the end of the experiment, the S-supplemented calves had higher mean body weight (p < 0.01), body condition score (p < 0.016), serum inorganic sulphate concentration (p < 0.001) and serum albumin concentration (p < 0.01) than the S-deficient calves. The unsupplemented dairy calves exhibited loss of body condition, retarded growth, weight loss and slight apathy.

Oral zinc sulphate causes murine hair hypopigmentation and is a potent inhibitor of eumelanogenesisin vivo

“…Although the thiol sulphur necessary for production of L-cysteine contained in keratin 52 and phaeomelanin 5,47,53 is additionally generated from sulphate 54 (CaSO 4 ) or elemental sulphur 55 (flowers of sulphur) by symbiotic bacteria, e.g. in the rumen of sheep or calves, 55 in general mammals are devoid of any metabolic pathways to use sulphate anions as a substrate for amino acid synthesis. 56 Moreover, Jara et al 4 observed in vitro both inhibition of tyrosinase activity by zinc sulphate and its activation by copper sulphate.…”

Mortes súbitas em bovinos associadas à carência de cobre

“…2) que, apesar de encontrarem-se abaixo dos teores normais nos dois grupos durante todo o experimento, foram significativamente superiores nos bovinos suplementados (P=0,0001). Kincaiad et al (1986) consideram normais os teores de ceruloplasmina de 65 a 130 mg/l, enquanto que no Brasil, em bovinos suplementados com Cu, foram encontrados teores de 50±15 mg/l, que são considerados adequados (Enrico L. Ortolani, 2001, Universidade de São Paulo, dados não publicados). A ceruloplasmina é um bom indicador do estado do Cu no organismo dos animais (Ward 1978, Suttle 1986a, Smart et al 1992, Radostits et al 1999, o que foi comprovado pelo índice de correlação encontrado entre os teores séricos de Cu e os dessa enzima (r=0,67; P=0,05).…”

“…As concentrações adequadas de enxofre na dieta variam de 0,1% a 0,2% (NRC 1996, McDowell 1995, Ortolani 2001. Matiolli et al (1996) e Ramirez et al (1998 consideraram que 0,3% de S nas pastagens podem causar hipocuprose, enquanto que o NRC (1996) menciona que 0,4% de S na alimentação resulta tóxico para bovinos.…”

“…Concentrações séricas normais de sulfato, segundo Barreto Júnior et al (1996), variam de 0,6 até 1,5 mmol/l, enquanto que para Ortolani (2001) essas concentrações variam de 0,38 a 1,78 mmol/l. A Fig.…”

Polioencephalomalacia (PEM) in calves associated with excess sulfur intake

“…Sulfur poisoning is an important cause of PEM, in addition to being common in bovines (Gould 2000, Niles et al 2000, Traverso et al 2001, Haydock 2003, Kul et al 2006, McKenzie et al 2009. Approximately 0.2% of sulfur can be found in the animal body, which is originated mainly from sulfur-containing amino acids (cystine, cysteine and methionine) and vitamins (biotin and thymine), and ruminal fermentation is the main form of sulfur transformation (Ortolani 2001). Thus, PEM outbreaks related to this etiology are associated with high levels of sulfate, sulfite or sulfide sulfur in feed (Traverso et al 2001) or water (Gould 2000).…”