Sacheck, Jennifer M., Akira Ohtsuka, S. Christine McLary, and Alfred L. Goldberg. IGF-I stimulates muscle growth by suppressing protein breakdown and expression of atrophy-related ubiquitin ligases, atrogin-1 and MuRF1. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab

The present experiments were undertaken to investigate the effects of environmental temperatures on growth, abdominal fat content, rate of muscle protein turnover, and heat production in tube-fed intact male broiler chickens. Plasma concentrations of thyroxine (Td), triiodothyronine (Ts), and corticosterone (CTC) were also examined. Chicks (15d old) were kept at different environmental tempera- (16,19,22,25,28,31, and 34") and given the experimental diet (200g crude proteid kg, 1337MJkg metabolizable energy) by tube three times daily throughout the 12d experimental period. In the hot conditions, except for 34", body-weight gain was significantly higher than in the cold conditions. Thus, food conversion ratios (food : gain ratios) were lower when the birds were exposed to the hot conditions other than 34". Likewise, abdominal fat content was significantly increased, and heat production was lower in the groups kept under the hot conditions other than 34". The rate of skeletal muscle protein turnover and plasma concentration of CTC were decreased when the birds were exposed to hot conditions other than 34", suggesting a role of CTC in the regulation of muscle protein turnover. Plasma coneenfrations of Tg and T j were significantly decreased as environmental temperature increased. These results clearly show that plasma concentrations of thyroid hormones and CTC are associated with accelerated muscle protein turnover and heat production.Environmental temperature: Muscle protein turnover: Heat production: Thyroid hormones: Corticosterone

Anthocyanins, sugars, and organic acids contribute to the appearance, health benefits, and taste of strawberries. However, their spatial distribution in the ripe fruit has been fully unrevealed. Therefore, we performed matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization, MALDI-IMS, analysis to investigate their spatial distribution in ripe strawberries. The detection sensitivity was improved by using the TM-Sprayer for matrix application. In the receptacle, pelargonidins were distributed in the skin, cortical, and pith tissues, whereas cyanidins and delphinidins were slightly localized in the skin. In the achene, mainly cyanidins were localized in the outside of the skin. Citric acid was mainly distributed in the upper and bottom side of cortical tissue. Although hexose was distributed almost equally throughout the fruits, sucrose was mainly distributed in the upper side of cortical and pith tissues. These results suggest that using the TM-Sprayer in MALDI-IMS was useful for microscopic distribution analysis of anthocyanins, sugars, and organic acids in strawberries.

The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of nano-selenium on growth performance, antioxidative status, and immune function in broiler chickens reared under thermoneutral (22±1℃) or high ambient temperature (35±1℃) conditions. Thirty-six broiler chicks at 15d old were randomly divided into 6 treatments in a 3 ×2 factorial design. The main factors included the dietary supplementation (basal diet without Se supplementation [control], basal diet with 0.3 mg of nano-elemental Se per kilogram of diet [nano-Se], and basal diet with 0.3 mg of sodium selenite per kilogram of diet [SSe]) and the ambient temperature challenge (22±1℃ or 35±1℃). The birds were given the experimental diets from 15 to 30 d of age. High ambient temperature significantly depressed body weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, breast muscle weight, and abdominal fat weight, while feeding nanoSe clearly alleviated these negative effects of high ambient temperature. In addition, feeding nano-Se increased glutathione peroxidase mRNA expression in liver and alleviated the negative effects of high ambient temperature via reducing the malondialdehyde content in liver and breast muscle. Furthermore, feeding nano-Se increased mRNA expression of cytokine genes (interleukins 2 and 6) under both thermoneutral and high ambient temperature conditions. Under both thermoneutral and high-temperature conditions, broiler chickens fed nano-Se had higher Se and vitamin E concentrations in breast muscle than broiler chickens fed the control diet. In contrast, feeding SSe at the same dose as nano-Se did not alleviate the negative effects of high ambient temperature on broiler chickens. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with nano-Se at 0.3 mg/kg diet might enhance growth performance by improving antioxidative or immune properties in broilers reared under high ambient temperature.

1. The effects of dietary polyphenols (PP) on growth and oxidative stress in the corticosterone (CTC) treated broiler chickens model were studied. 2. Chicks (Cobb strain) were divided into 3 (CTC) x 3 (PP) blocks and given diets containing CTC at concentrations of 0, 10 and 20 mg/kg. 3. The body weight gain was lower when the birds were treated with CTC. However, the high dose of PP tended to reduce the effect of CTC. 4. The abdominal fat content, plasma triglyceride concentration and liver weight were increased by CTC and reduced by PP. 5. Muscle and liver thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) were elevated by CTC and these effects were reduced by PP. Plasma CTC concentration was increased by dietary CTC treatment and decreased by PP. 6. In conclusion, our results indicate that PP can minimise growth inhibition, hyperlipidemia and oxidative stress induced by CTC treatment in broiler chickens.