White muscle disease in three selenium deficient beef and dairy calves in Argentina and Uruguay

Abstract

White muscle disease (WMD), nutritional myodegeneration or enzootic muscular dystrophy, is a nutritional condition associated with selenium and/or vitamin E deficiency in ruminants. These elements are constituents of the major body antioxidant systems. Depletion of selenium results in oxidative damage to cardiac and skeletal muscle cells, resulting in myodegeneration and myonecrosis, typical lesions of WMD. Selenium deficiency is common in South America, but WMD is underreported. This research describes clinical, biochemical and pathological findings in two episodes of WMD associated with selenium deficiency in beef and dairy calves in Argentina and Uruguay with concurrent copper deficiency in one of them, which resulted in spontaneous calf mortality. Further studies are necessary to estimate the true incidence and economic impact of clinical and subclinical mineral deficiencies in livestock production systems in the southern cone of South America.

Nutritional muscular dystrophy in lambs reared on pasture in semiarid region of Brazil

“…Researchers also cited some factors predisposing sheep to the development of NMD, such as an excess of unsaturated fatty acids in the diet, prolonged or unusual muscle exercise for the animal, and adverse climatic exposure (Maas et al, 1994;Rodriguez et al, 2018). Poor quality food, such as straw or crop remains, often predispose to Se deficiencies (Maas et al, 1994).…”

“…NMD develops due to insufficiency of Se and/or vitamin E in food during fetal and neonatal life and is seen in animals worldwide. An Se deficiency occurs when the soil contains less than 0.5 mg Se/kg and locally harvested food contains less than 0.1 mg Se/kg (Hefnawy & Tórtora Pérez, 2010;Suttle, 2010;Ghanem et al, 2016;Rodriguez et al, 2018;Yildirim et al, 2019). Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element present in the tissues of animals, and its importance for health and productivity has been well established (Xun et al, 2012), as it protects organisms from oxidative damage.…”

“…A deficiency in Se seems to be common in the diets of farm animals, possibly because there are multiple risk factors that precipitate the appearance of this disease, such as rapid growth or dietary factors, including an excess of unsaturated fatty acids in the feed, stressful factors, such as keeping the animals in the open after periods of stabling during the winter, long-distance walking, and vaccination and de-worming management of the flock. On the other hand, pastures poor in Se and Vitamin E or animals that receive feed deficient in these elements may also be predisposed to the disease (Maas et al, 1994;Amorim et al, 2005;Rodriguez et al, 2018). Research, Society andDevelopment, v. 9, n. 7, e506974642, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4642 standing, lordosis, tachycardia, dyspnea, tachypnea, ataxia, and hardening of the muscles.…”

“…Nutritional muscular dystrophy (NMD), also known as nutritional myodegeneration, is associated with Se deficiency. NMD lesions are mediated by oxidative damage to cell membranes, which allows extracellular calcium to flow to damaged cells, causing activation of calcium-dependent proteases that degrade myofibrils and other cellular components, leading to myodegeneration and myonecrosis (Maas et al, 1984;Amorim et al, 2005;Rodriguez et al, 2018).…”

Effects of Parenteral Supplementation with Minerals and Vitamins on Oxidative Stress and Humoral Immune Response of Weaning Calves

“…Selenium deficiency is usually endemic and can affect extensive cattle production without mineral supplementation [ 10 ]. This is the case of the Salado River Basin (SRB), the main cattle breeding area in Argentina, producing 2.8 million calves per year and showing low Se concentrations in pasture and cattle plasma [ 11 ], together with sporadic cases of nutritional muscular dystrophy [ 12 ].…”