An Assessment of Stress Status in Fattening Steers by Monitoring Heart Rate Variability: A Case of Dietary Vitamin A Restriction

Abstract

Heart rate variability (HRV), heart beat-to-beat variations, is a measure of cardiac autonomic functions, and HRV monitoring using sensor technology can be a non-invasive way to assess stress of animals. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary vitamin A (VA) restriction to enhance beef quality on the physiological status of fattening steers by HRV analysis. Six Japanese Black steers were equally allocated into VA-restricted (RES) and VA-supplemented (SUP) groups. The RES steers were fed VA-restricted diets from 11 to 20 months of age. The inter-beat intervals and blood VA concentration were measured at 18 and 24 months of age. HRV parameters in time, frequency, and non-linear domains were calculated using the inter-beat intervals. Blood VA concentration was significantly lower in RES steers than in SUP steers at 18 months of age (P < 0.05) but did not differ between the groups at 24 months of age. The HRV analysis indicated greater sympathetic and lower parasympathetic activities in RES steers than in SUP steers (P < 0.05). However, there were significant interactions of the group and age on HRV parameters (P < 0.05), indicating that although RES steers at 18 months of age might suffer from slight stress, the response could recover to a level similar to SUP steers at 24 months of age by the increase in blood VA concentration.

The content of saturated fatty acids in the blood plasma of cows in the winter period depends on autonomic nervous regulation

“…У серцево-судинній системі зменшується частота серцевих скорочень, знижується кров'яний тиск. У травній системі стимулюються процеси травлення поживних субстратів, з яких енергетичні продукти використовуються на живлення тканин і запасання (Messina et al, 2017;Kitajima et al, 2022).…”

Heart rate variability and behavioral alterations during prepartum period in dairy cows as predictors of calving: a preliminary study

“…Healthy cardiac function is characterized by irregular intervals between heartbeats [13]. The fluctuation of inter-beat intervals is expressed as heart rate variability (HRV), which reflects the sympathetic and vagal activities of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) [14]. Stress or painful procedures reportedly induce a reduction in parasympathetic (vagal) tone, an elevation in sympathetic activity, and a reduction in HRV [15].…”

“…Stress or painful procedures reportedly induce a reduction in parasympathetic (vagal) tone, an elevation in sympathetic activity, and a reduction in HRV [15]. HRV analysis has been utilized in studies to assess the impact of diseases [16][17][18], heat stress [14], and painful procedures associated with calf rearing [19] in triggering stress in cattle. Additionally, HRV analysis has been employed to monitor alterations in the regulation of maternal cardiac activity [20] and the physiological stress response [21] in peripartum cows.…”

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“…These differences are explained by the cow's different perception of the environment and adaptation to the changes it encounters throughout its life. Most scientists, based on their research, emphasise the multidimensionality of individual animal characteristics (Hunter et al, 2021;Kitajima et al, 2022). Reactivity is one of the most common signs to measure the state of a cow's body.…”