Activity of intestinal mucosal membrane carbohydrases in cattle of different breeds

Abstract

. Activity of intestinal mucosal membrane carbohydrases in cattle of different breeds. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 77: 441-446. A study was conducted to determine differences in length of intestinal villi and crypts and activity of mucosal carbohydrases of several breeds of beef cattle. Tissue samples, from three locations in the small intestine, were obtained from heifers and steers of Wagyu (W) × Angus (W × A), W × Hereford (W × H) and W × Holstein (W × O) crossbred cattle and from Holstein, Parthenais and Piedmontese steers at slaughter. In W × A cattle villi were shorter and crypts were longer (P < 0.05) than in cattle of other breeds. Mucosal protein concentration was highest (P < 0.05) in the mid-and distal intestinal regions in the W × A cattle. Maltase activity was highest (P < 0.05) for W × H heifers and least (P < 0.05) for W × A heifers in the proximal intestinal region. Holstein and Piedmontese steers had the highest ADG, and Holstein steers had the highest lactase activity in the mid-intestinal region. Lactase activity in the mid-intestinal region appeared to be weakly associated with ADG of cattle (r = 0.454, P = 0.015, n = 28). These data suggest that differences due to breed of cattle exist in villus and crypt lengths and mucosal carbohydrase activity; however, the influence of these intestinal parameters on cattle performance may be relatively small. . Chez les sujets W × A, les villosités étaient plus courtes et les cryptes plus longues (P < 0,05) que chez les autres groupes génétiques. Également chez les W × A la concentration protéique de la muqueuse atteignait des valeurs maximales (P < 0,05) dans les régions médiane et distale de l'intestin. La plus forte activité de la maltase (P < 0,05) était observée chez les génisses W × H et la plus faible (P < 0,05) chez les génisses W × A dans la région proximale de l'intestin. Les bouvillons Holstein et Piedmontais affichaient le GMQ le plus élevé, les premiers manifestant en outre la plus forte activité de la lactase dans la région intestinale médiane, quoique ces deux caractères ne soient que faiblement interreliés (r = 0,454, P = 0,015; n = 28). Ces observations portent à conclure qu'il y a effectivement des différences selon la race affectant la longueur des villosités et des cryptes intestinales ainsi que de l'activité des carbohydrases de la muqueuse. Il semble toutefois que l'influence de ces paramètres soit relativement faible.Mots clés: Villosité intestinale, crypte, cellobioase, maltase, lactase, bovin à viande Cattle breeds vary in their ability to grow and produce lean meat with different quality characteristics (Newman et al. 1994). It can be expected that this variation is related to genetic differences in their ability to acquire and partition nutrients from feed to different tissue components. Kreikemeier et al. (1990) found the type of diet and level of intake to significantly affect pancreatic weight and carbohydrate digesting enzyme abundance and activity in the small intestine. These authors studied steers of the Holstein and Longhorn bre...

Influence of the diet on the morphology of ruminal and intestinal mucosa and on intestinal carbohydrase levels in cattle

“…A positive correlation was observed between maltase activity and the depth of ileal crypts (r = 0.588; P = 0.027; n = 14). In contrast to our findings Mir et al (1997) noted differences in lactase acitivity. These differences might have resulted from the relatively longer villi in some breeds which might have influenced overall nutrient absorption in the animals.…”

“…Kreikemeier et al (1990) studied the activity of carbohydrate digesting enzymes in Holstein and Longhorn bulls and observed it to be influenced by the type of diet and the level of feed intake. Mir et al (1997) considered the length of villi and crypts and mucosal carbohydrase activity to be an important factor in nutrient absorption; they recorded differences in these parameters between different cattle breeds, of which Holstein bulls had the highest lactase activity and the longest villi in the middle part of the intestine. ABSTRACT: This study examined the effects of extensive and intensive feeding on the morphology of the gastrointestinal tract as well as on the level of carbohydrase activity in the small intestine of growing ca�le.…”

Gastrointestinal development of dairy calves fed low- or high-starch concentrate at two milk allowances

“…However, although intestinal tissue mass are not changed, the capacity for nutrient assimilation may be affected by the nutrients supplied to the small intestine as shown for the Na-glucose co-transporter in lambs (ShiraziBeechey et al, 1991). The density and length of the villi and the density and depth of the crypts are indicators of nutrient absorption rate (Mir et al, 1997), and the proximal part of the small intestines was found to be most responsive to changes in type of concentrate consumed (Mir et al, 1997;Zitnan et al, 2003). In the present experiment, the sizes of villi and crypts were not affected by type of concentrate used, but the number of jejunal villi and crypts increased in calves-fed EXP compared with TRA.…”

Morphology of small intestinal mucosa and intestinal weight change with metabolic type of cattle

“…This fact was confirmed by the positive correlation between the morphometric parameters of ruminal and intestinal mucosa (Zitnan et al, 2003). Mir et al (1997) considered the length of villi and depth of crypts and mucosal carbohydrase activity as an important factor in nutrient absorption. The authors found differences in these parameters between different cattle breeds.…”