Effects of lamb early starter feeding on the expression of genes involved in volatile fatty acid transport and pH regulation in rumen tissue

Liu, Ting; Li, Fadi; Wang, Weimin; Yue, Xiangpeng; Li, Fēi; Li, Chong; Pan, Xiangyu; Mo, Futao; Wang, Fangbin; La, Yongfu; Li, Baosheng

doi:10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2016.04.006

Cited by 12 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…In our study, total concentrations of SCFA at week 4 and 16, irrespective of weaning age, were in the range of adult sheep grazed on ryegrass and in high starch diets (Jonker et al, 2014;Jonker et al, 2016) indicating early onset of adult-like fermentation. Our observations differ from those of Liu et al (2016), who reported that lambs reared indoors with restricted access to their dams and with early (1 wk) or late inclusion of starter diets (6 wk) reached adult-like SCFA concentrations by week 6 and 8 of age, respectively. Collectively, these results indicate that restriction of milk feeding to stimulate solid feed intake is a key driver in the early establishment of rumen fermentation.…”

contrasting

confidence: 99%

“…When animals are in negative energy balance, elevated blood BHBA concentrations can result from BHBA production by the liver (Katz and Bergman, 1969), however, this is unlikely in the current study since plasma NEFA concentrations did not differ between EW and Ctrl lambs. Therefore, it is likely that the increased mean plasma BHBA concentrations of EW lambs reflects increased absorption of SCFA and ketogenic activity of the rumen epithelium after milk removal as observed previously in lambs and other ruminants (Steele et al, 2012;Deelen et al, 2016;Kern et al, 2016;Liu et al, 2016). These results indicate accelerated metabolic development of the rumen in EW compared to Ctrl lambs as an adaptation mechanism to enable absorption of SCFA from the rumen as milk is reduced as a component of the diet.…”

supporting

confidence: 60%

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Impact of weaning age on rumen development in artificially reared lambs1

Cristobal-Carballo

Khan

Knol

et al. 2019

Journal of Animal Science

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This study examined the impact of weaning age (4 vs. 6 wk) on rumen morphological and metabolic development in artificially reared lambs. Thirty-two mixed-sex lambs (2 to 5 d old) were randomly allocated to 1 of 2 weaning groups: early weaning (EW; 4 wk) and control (Ctrl; 6 wk). Lambs were individually penned and fed milk replacer (MR; 24% CP and 25% fat, DM basis) at 20% of their corresponding initial BW. Weaning was achieved by gradual reduction of MR allowance over a period of 3 wk using a step-down procedure. Concentrate and meadow hay were offered ad libitum from 1 d of the study until 6 wk, when lambs were transferred to a mixed sward pasture. At week 4, individual DMI were recorded and blood samples collected to measure β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) and NEFA. Eight animals per group were euthanized at week 4 and 16 to evaluate short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and histomorphometry of the rumen walls: dorsal (DS), ventral (VS), dorsal blind (DBS), and ventral blind (VBS) sacs. Linear mixed models were used to analyze the effect of weaning treatments at week 4 and 16, and to compare between timepoints and between rumen sites. Dry matter intake and rumen SCFA profiles were similar between groups (P > 0.10) at week 4 and 16. Plasma concentrations of BHBA were greater (P = 0.03) in EW than in Ctrl lambs, while NEFA did not differ (P > 0.10) between groups at week 4. No effect of weaning age on rumen empty weight, and papillae density, length, width, surface area ratio, and muscle layer thickness at any of the 4 rumen sites was found (P > 0.10) at either week 4 or week 16, except for greater (P = 0.02) papillae epithelium thickness in the DBS at week 4 in EW than Ctrl lambs. Papillae morphology and muscular thickness differed across rumen sites at week 4 and week 16 (P < 0.05), except for papillae density and surface area ratio at 4 week (P > 0.10). Rumen papillae length, width, and muscle layer thickness increased while papillae density and surface area ratio decreased (P < 0.05) between 4 and 16 wk. The results of this study indicate that morphological and physiological development of the rumen can be accelerated to support weaning of artificially reared lambs at 4 wk, using a step-down weaning system. Morphological differences between rumen sacs denote that future studies in lambs evaluating the impact of different diets should involve representative sampling across the rumen rather than a single site to more accurately study rumen development and ontogenic changes.

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contrasting

confidence: 99%

supporting

confidence: 60%

Impact of weaning age on rumen development in artificially reared lambs1

Cristobal-Carballo

Khan

Knol

et al. 2019

Journal of Animal Science

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“…It has been generally accepted that intake of solid feed before weaning stimulates rumen development and functionality [21,22]. Early starter feeding (7 days of age) was reported to increase ruminal VFA concentration in lambs compared with late starter feeding (42 days of age) [23]. Therefore, lambs were provided starter at 7 days of age in the current study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The increase in pH with age may be explained by the continuous development of rumen and starter intake. Furthermore, when the rumen epithelium is still underdeveloped, early starter feeding in lambs can increase ruminal VFA concentrations and affect the expression levels of genes involved in VFA transport and pH regulation in the ruminal epithelium [23].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Age and Weaning on Growth Performance, Rumen Fermentation, and Serum Parameters in Lambs Fed Starter with Limited Ewe–Lamb Interaction

Wang

Zhao

et al. 2019

Animals

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Simple SummaryEarly weaning is a common practice in the modern lamb industry, which shortens the breeding cycle of ewes and improves the flock productivity by increasing the frequency of lambing. Recently, it was suggested that weaning age (21 or 35 days of age) and milk replacer feeding level had limited effect on apparent digestibility of nutrients in lambs. However, artificial rearing may increase the cost due to the use of milk replacer, labor, and feeding facilities. In this study, we compared the difference in growth performance of lambs weaned at 21 days (early weaning) and 49 days (conventional weaning) of age. All lambs were initially reared with ewes and supplemented with starter at 7 days of age. The results showed that diarrhea rate was increased when lambs were weaned at 21 days of age while average daily gain was decreased. Early weaning reduced average daily gain without compromising lambs’ overall immunity. In conclusion, early weaning (21 days of age) may have a negative impact on lambs’ performance based on a short-term study.AbstractSixty neonatal Hu lambs were weaned at either 21 (n = 30) (early weaning, EW) or 49 days (n = 30) of age (control, CON). The starter intake and body weight (BW) of lambs was recorded weekly from birth to 63 days of age. Diarrhea rate of lambs was measured from birth to 35 days. Six randomly selected lambs from each treatment were slaughtered at 26, 35, and 63 days of age, respectively. Ruminal pH, NH3-N, and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration, as well as serum parameters including immunity, antioxidant status, and inflammatory parameters from randomly selected lambs from each treatment were measured. There was no difference in BW at birth and day 21 between the two groups of lambs (p > 0.05). However, BW of the lambs in the EW group was significantly lower than those in the CON group (p < 0.01) from 28 to 49 days of age. Average daily gain (ADG) of the lambs in the EW group was significantly lower than those in the CON group (p < 0.01) at three weeks after early weaning. Starter intake of the lambs in the EW group was obviously higher than that in the CON group (p < 0.01) from day 28 to 49. In addition, the diarrhea rate was significantly higher than that in the CON group from day 5 to 14 after weaning (p < 0.01). The EW group had heavier carcasses (p < 0.01) and rumen relative to whole stomach weights (p < 0.01). Rumen pH was increased by age (p < 0.01) and was not affected by early weaning (p > 0.05). Early weaning decreased abomasum relative to whole stomach weight (p < 0.01) and increased total VFA concentrations (p < 0.01) at day 26. There was no difference in lambs’ immunity and stress indicators (p > 0.05). The results indicated that lambs weaned at 21 days of age had decreased ADG and higher diarrhea rate, although the overall immunity was not compromised. Long-term study is needed to further validate the feasibility of early weaning strategy in lambs.

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“…Here we hypothesized that the animals fed reconstituted grains would present greater mRNA expression of key genes involved in VFA transport in their ruminal epithelium than animals fed dry ground grains. Thus, we decided to evaluate potential differences in mRNA expression of AE2 , DRA , MCT1 , MCT4 , NHE1 , NHE2 , NHE3 , PAT1 , and H + ATPase , which are known as markers for regulation of VFA, H + protons and HCO 3 - epithelial transport processes [ 5 , 25 , 26 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of grain processing methods on the expression of genes involved in volatile fatty acid transport and pH regulation, and keratinization in rumen epithelium of beef cattle

et al. 2018

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Two experiments were carried out to evaluate the effects of corn and sorghum with different processing methods on the expression of genes involved in volatile fatty acids transport and pH regulation, and ruminal keratinization in rumen epithelium of finishing bulls. For Exp. 1, five rumen cannulated Nellore bulls were used in a 5x5 Latin square arrangement, with 14 d for adaptation and 9 d for sample collection. Treatments were: dry ground corn, dry ground sorghum, reconstituted corn, reconstituted sorghum, and control (forage-based diet). Samples of rumen epithelium from ventral sac were excised, rinsed, snap-frozen and stored at -80°C until total RNA isolation and quantitative real-time PCR analysis. In the Exp. 2, 24 Nellore bulls were assigned to a completely randomized design lasting 168 d. Experimental treatments were similar to those at Exp. 1, but without the control treatment. After the experimental period, bulls were slaughtered and rumen epithelium samples were rapidly excised for further histological analysis. Rumen epithelial tissue from animals fed reconstituted corn had lower expression of downregulated-in-adenoma (P = 0.03) and Na+/H+ exchanger 2 (trend; P = 0.09). The expression of Na+/ H+ exchanger 1 (P = 0.10) and putative anion transporter (P = 0.06) tended to be lower in rumen epithelium of bulls fed reconstituted grains. Ruminal concentration of valerate was greater for animals fed reconstituted grain (P = 0.01). Likewise, animals fed reconstituted corn tended to have greater butyrate ruminal concentration (P = 0.08). Keratinized layer thickness did not differ among treatments (P > 0.10). Therefore, reconstituted grains (especially corn) decrease the mRNA expression of genes involved in volatile fatty acids transport and pH control in the rumen epithelium.

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Effects of lamb early starter feeding on the expression of genes involved in volatile fatty acid transport and pH regulation in rumen tissue

Cited by 12 publications

References 42 publications

Impact of weaning age on rumen development in artificially reared lambs1

Impact of weaning age on rumen development in artificially reared lambs1

Effect of Age and Weaning on Growth Performance, Rumen Fermentation, and Serum Parameters in Lambs Fed Starter with Limited Ewe–Lamb Interaction

Effects of grain processing methods on the expression of genes involved in volatile fatty acid transport and pH regulation, and keratinization in rumen epithelium of beef cattle

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