Effects of Chinese herbal medicine on plasma glucose, protein and energy metabolism in sheep

Abstract

BackgroundThe use of antibiotics in animal diets is facing negative feedback due to the hidden danger of drug residues to human health. Traditional Chinese herbal medicine has been used to replace antibiotics in the past two decades and played an increasingly important role in livestock production. The present study was carried out to assess the feeding effects of a traditional nourishing Chinese herbal medicine mixture on kinetics of plasma glucose, protein and energy metabolism in sheep. Ruminal fermentation characteristics were also determined.MethodsFour sheep were fed on either mixed hay (MH-diet) or MH-diet supplemented with 2% of Chinese herbal medicine (mixture of Astragalus root, Angelica root and Atractylodes rhizome; CHM-diet) over two 35-day periods using a crossover design. The turnover rate of plasma glucose was measured with an isotope dilution method using [U-13C]glucose. The rates of plasma leucine turnover and leucine oxidation, whole body protein synthesis (WBPS) and metabolic heat production were measured using the [1-13C]leucine dilution and open circuit calorimetry.ResultsBody weight gain of sheep was higher (P = 0.03) for CHM-diet than for MH-diet. Rumen pH was lower (P = 0.02), concentration of rumen total volatile fatty acid tended to be higher (P = 0.05) and acetate was higher (P = 0.04) for CHM-diet than for MH-diet. Turnover rates of plasma glucose and leucine did not differ between diets. Oxidation rate of leucine tended to be higher (P = 0.06) for CHM-diet than for MH-diet, but the WBPS did not differ between diets. Metabolic heat production tended to be greater (P = 0.05) for CHM-diet than for MH-diet.ConclusionsThe sheep fed on CHM-diet had a higher body weight gain and showed positive impacts on rumen fermentation and energy metabolism without resulting in any adverse response. Therefore, these results suggested that the Chinese herbal medicine mixture should be considered as a potential feed additive for sheep.

Effect of Chinese herbal medicine on kinetics of plasma phenylalanine, tyrosine and whole body protein synthesis in sheep

“…the enrichment of exhaled 13 CO 2 that derived from leucine oxidation. However, the numerical values of WBPS observed with the [ 2 H 5 ]Phe model in this study were lower than those observed with the [1-13 C]leucine model (calculated from plasma enrichment of α-[1-13 C]ketoisocaproic acid, the true precursor of intracellular leucine metabolism) in sheep in our previous work(Liang et al, 2013).These results accord with the observation ofAl-Mamun, Ito, Sato, Fujita, and Sano (2004) who compared the [ 2 H 5 ]Phe model with the [1-13 C]leucine method to determine protein metabolism in sheep.…”

“…A number of isotope dilution methods using different amino acid isotopes have been applied to estimate the WBPS in experimental animals. Among the isotopes, [1-13 C]leucine is the most widely used amino acid isotope (Krishnamurti & Janssens, 1998;Lapierre et al, 2002;Liang et al, 2013). In our current experiment, the isotope As expected, the results from this study demonstrated that the Chinese herbal medicine could accelerate turnover and oxidation of plasma amino acids as well as enhance protein metabolism in sheep.…”

“…We intended to study the effect of the mixture of Astragalus root, Angelica root, and Atractylodes rhizome on intermediary metabolism of different nutrients in sheep through a couple of experiments to introduce a potential feed source for ruminant production. However, in our previous work, feeding the crude herbs did not influence protein metabolism in sheep (Liang et al., ). In the treatment of human diseases, liquid extract is the traditional and commonly used form of Chinese herbal medicine.…”

“…However, in our previous work, feeding the crude herbs did not influence protein metabolism in sheep (Liang et al, 2013). In the treatment of human diseases, liquid extract is the traditional and commonly used form of Chinese herbal medicine.…”

“…A number of isotope dilution methods using different amino acid isotopes have been applied to estimate the WBPS in experimental animals. Among the isotopes, [1‐ 13 C]leucine is the most widely used amino acid isotope (Krishnamurti & Janssens, ; Lapierre et al., ; Liang et al., ). In our current experiment, the isotope dilution method of [ 2 H 5 ]Phe and [ 2 H 2 ]Tyr was used to determine protein kinetics in sheep.…”