Black Maca (Lepidium meyenii Walp.) Hydroalcoholic Extract as an Ameliorating Agent against Heat Stress Conditions of V-Line Rabbit Does

Abstract

Rabbits are sensitive to heat stress (HS) in hot regions due to difficulty in eliminating excess body heat. We evaluated the ameliorating role of black maca hydroalcoholic extract (BMHE) against HS conditions on the productive and reproductive performance of V-line rabbit does. Rabbits were divided into four equal groups (T1–T4), each containing three replicates. T1 received commercial basal diet (BD) only, whereas T2–T4 received BD and 200, 400, and 600 mg BMHE kg−1 body weight (BW) of doe day−1, respectively, administered orally for 1 week before the mating process each month from May to August. HS significantly decreased the BW of rabbits after the weaning period, as well as litter size, and litter weights measured 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after the postnatal period. HS conditions also significantly decreased BW at slaughter as well as all carcass quality parameters. HS led to significantly impaired physiological responses, oxidative status, and reproductive efficiency in exposed rabbits. Orally administered 400 mg BMHE kg−1 BW of doe alleviated all these drastic effects in HS rabbits among all treatments. Thus, oral treatment of 400 mg BMHE kg−1 BW (T3) is a promising ameliorating agent against HS conditions in V-line rabbit does, especially in tropical or subtropical regions.

Ramifications of Heat Stress on Rabbit Production and Role of Nutraceuticals in Alleviating Its Negative Impacts: An Updated Review

“…It is well known that HS is the highest hazard factor deteriorating growing rabbits' growth performance and viability [4,8,[25][26][27][28][29]. Farghly et al [8] reported that rabbits were susceptible to HS, which resulted in deteriorating growth performance indicators in terms of body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR).…”

“…In general, HS negatively impacted reproductive performance in female and male rabbits, which posed a danger to the rabbit business in hot and semi-hot climates [36,37]. Rabbits subjected to HS conditions had a decrease in fertility, embryo development, litter size, litter weight, and milk production [28,37]. Marco-Jimenez et al [37] reported that maternal exposure to high environmental temperatures decreased litter weight, litter size, and kit weight at birth, while the stillborn rate was greater in heat-stressed does during pregnancy.…”

“…Other Phytobiotics Ragab et al [24] reported that an oral dose of Maca (Lepidium meyenii) extract at 400 or 600 mg/rabbit twice weekly improved growth parameters (live BW, FI, and FCR), serum biochemical attributes (reduced serum concentration of total bilirubin, creatinine, glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and AST, but enhanced cortisol and testosterone levels), antioxidant status (increase the serum concentration of TAC and SOD, while, MDA was reduced), and semen quality in rabbit bucks exposed to high ambient temperature. Additionally, in rabbits exposed to HS conditions, Ragab et al [28] noted that an oral dose of Maca extract at 400 mg/kg BW/d improved the litter size, litter weights at 7, 14, 21, and 28 d, final BW, carcass characteristics (weights of dressing, thigh, trunk, liver, heart, and spleen), blood biochemical constituents (increased plasma levels of total protein, albumin, total bilirubin, and LDL-cholesterol, but decreased plasma contents of glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol LDL-cholesterol, VLDL-cholesterol, uric acid, AST, and ALT), hormone profile (increased serum estrogen and progesterone concentration, while, cortisol concentration was reduced), antioxidative status (serum TAC concentration), and reproductive efficiency. Abdelnour et al [60] elucidated that the dietary supplementation of pumpkin seed essential oil (2 mL/kg diet) improved the growth performance (live BW, FI, BWG, and FCR), serum biochemical parameters (increased serum levels of total protein, albumin, and globulin, while lowering plasma total bilirubin, ALT, AST, creatinine, uric acid, glucose, cortisol, T 3 , and corticosterone concentrations) and anti-inflammation agent (exhibiting negative caspase-3 immunoreactivity surrounding portal tract) in growing rabbits under HS conditions.…”