No abstract

Subacute Ruminal Acidosis (SARA) corresponds to an imbalance between lactate-producing bacteria and lactate-using bacteria, which results in a change in ruminal pH associated with a prevalent consumption of rapidly fermentable carbohydrates. In our study, 216 primiparus and multiparus dairy cows were selected from 20 Italian intensive dairy herds and were divided into three groups based on the risk of SARA. All the dairy cows had high average milk production. After blood sampling, a complete blood gas analysis was performed. One-way ANOVA was performed to compare the three groups. O2 Cont, PCO2, blood pH, O2Hb, urinary pH, and rumen pH were significantly lower in cows with rumen pH < 5.5. These results indicate that blood gas analysis is a valuable tool to diagnose acidosis in dairy cows because it provides good assessment of acidosis while being less invasive than rumen pH analysis.

The left and right hams of forty heavy pig carcasses were thermographed to evaluate whether surface temperature differences were related to meat and ham quality. Thermal imaging analysis showed no differences in average surface temperature among classes of pH or of L* colour co-ordinate nor among classes of ham defects such as veining and red skin. However, hams with a lower fat cover displayed a significantly warmer average temperature surface. Infrared thermography seems to be a practical and non-invasive method to detect hams with a fat cover below the minimum requested to be submitted to the dry-curing process

The aim of this study was to evaluate the variations of Acute Phase Proteins (APPs) and other blood constituents during the onset of the sub-acute ruminal acidosis (SARA) pathological status. A total of 108 cows from 12 dairy herds were randomly selected and divided into three Groups of 36 animals each. All animals were subjected to a rumenocentesis. Group A was composed by subjects with a rumen pH>5.8, Group B was composed by subjects with a rumen pH ≤5.5≤5.8 and Group C was composed by subjects with a rumen pH<5.5. Blood samples were collected by jugular venipuncture and Haptoglobin (Hp), Serum Amyloid A (SAA), Total Proteins, Albumin and White Blood Cells (WBC) were determined. Oneway ANOVA showed a statistical significance on Rumen pH, Hp, SAA. SARA seems not stimulate the APPs production from liver.Keywords: acute phase protein, dairy cow, haptoglobin, serum amyloid A, SARA RESUMO O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar as variações de Proteínas de Fase Aguda (APPs) e outros constituintes sanguíneos durante o início do status patológico de sub-acute ruminal acidosis (SARA

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a glucose load in pregnant and nonpregnant Sardinia ewes. After ultrasound diagnostic exam, 15 ewes were divided into 3 groups of 5 subjects each: group A (nonpregnant ewes), group B (pregnant ewes with one fetus), and group C (pregnant ewes with twin fetuses). On all blood samples collected through jugular venipuncture, plasma glucose concentration was assessed by means of a UV spectrophotometer and plasma insulin concentration was assessed by means of a radioimmu- noassay kit. All measurements were taken 15 min before glucose infusion, 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 min after glucose infusion. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance followed by the Tukey’s test showed statistical differences (P < 0.05) on glucose and insulin concentrations. These results showed the influence of the glucose load on metabolism of ruminants and indentified the glucose as an important direct controller of metabolic interactions in normal subjects and of metabolic responses in pregnant ewes