Short communication: Melatonin implantation during the non-growing period of cashmere increases the cashmere yield of female Inner Mongolian cashmere goats by increasing fiber length and density

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate if melatonin implantation at the end of April and June was able to increase cashmere production in female Inner Mongolian cashmere goats and to search for contributing factors accounting for the melatonin increasing in cashmere production. One hundred and fifty female Inner Mongolian cashmere goats (initial body weight 37.2 ± 3.3 kg) were randomly assigned to either a control (n=75) or a treatment (n=75) group. Goats in the treatment group were implanted with melatonin (2 mg/kg of body weight) on April 30 and June 30, 2014 while goats in the control received no treatment. Melatonin implantation increased cashmere yield by 23.4% while increasing the length and density of the cashmere fiber by 19.8% and 11.4%, whereas it decreased cashmere fiber diameter by 4.4%. Melatonin treatment had no effect on doe growth, litter size or birth and weaning weights of kid. Melatonin implantation promoted cashmere yield by increasing fiber length and density without impacting the performance of goats and their offspring. Therefore, melatonin implantation during the cashmere non-growing period (late April and June) is an effective way to increase cashmere yield and improve cashmere characteristics of goats.Additional keywords: cashmere goats; cashmere yield; fiber length; fiber density; melatonin.

Melatonin promotes secondary hair follicle development of early postnatal cashmere goat and improves cashmere quantity and quality by enhancing antioxidant capacity and suppressing apoptosis

“…In the current study, the decrease in cashmere fiber of 0.80 μm at wearing shearing and 0.78 μm at yearling combing was inconsistent with that in adult cashmere goats where melatonin administration reduced cashmere fiber diameter by 0.6 μm and 0.7 μm . Though melatonin led to a decrease in cashmere fiber diameter, it caused a rise in cashmere yield by increasing cashmere fiber density at yearling combing, which was in agreement with results in adult Inner Mongolian cashmere goats . This result confirmed the negative relationship between cashmere fiber diameter and cashmere fiber density .…”

“…In this study, the live body weight of animals was not influenced by melatonin, which was in agreement with results in adult cashmere goats . This result demonstrated that melatonin administration to early postnatal Inner Mongolian cashmere goats did not affect the growth performance while improving cashmere production.…”

“…This result demonstrated that melatonin administration to early postnatal Inner Mongolian cashmere goats did not affect the growth performance while improving cashmere production. As to adult Inner Mongolian cashmere goats, melatonin administration led to an increase of 2.02 cm in fiber staple length during the melatonin release period of four months in which time the secondary follicles commenced reconstruction from telogen to anagen . In the current study, a similar increase in cashmere fiber staple length of 1.6 cm at weaning shearing was observed in melatonin group in comparison with control group (4.67 cm vs 3.07 cm), at which time the secondary follicles matured and produced cashmere fibers.…”

“…Consequently, melatonin administration to early postnatal cashmere goats raised the price of cashmere obtained at weaning shearing and provided economic benefits to the herdsmen. The result of similar fiber staple length at yearling combing between melatonin and control groups (9.52 cm vs 8.91 cm) suggested that the growth of cashmere fiber was not influenced after the subcutaneous melatonin implants had fully released melatonin; this is in agreement with the effect on cashmere fiber growth in adult Inner Mongolian cashmere goats after exogenous melatonin removing …”

“…In addition to the stimulatory effect of melatonin on cashmere growth in cashmere goats, numerous studies showed that melatonin also stimulated hair growth of other animals and humans . It was reported that melatonin treatment caused an increase in fiber length by 5.6% in Angora rabbits .…”