Effects of Dietary Calcium Propionate Supplementation on Hypothalamic Neuropeptide Messenger RNA Expression and Growth Performance in Finishing Rambouillet Lambs

Abstract

The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of feeding different levels concentrations of dietary calcium propionate (CaPr) on lambs’ growth performance; ruminal fermentation parameters; glucose–insulin concentration; and hypothalamic mRNA expression for neuropeptide Y (NPY), agouti-related peptide (AgRP), and proopiomelanocortin (POMC). Thirty-two individually fed lambs were randomly assigned to four treatments: (1) control diet (0 g/kg of CaPr), (2) low CaPr, (30 g/kg dry matter (DM)), (3) medium CaPr, (35 g/kg DM), and (4) high CaPr (40 g/kg DM). After 42 days of feeding, lambs were slaughtered for collecting samples of the hypothalamus. Data were analyzed as a complete randomized design, and means were separated using linear and quadratic polynomial contrast. Growth performance was not affected (p ≥ 0.11) by dietary CaPr inclusion. The ruminal concentration of total volatile fatty acids (VFA) increased linearly (p = 0.04) as dietary CaPr increased. Likewise, a linear increase in plasma insulin concentration (p = 0.03) as dietary CaPr concentration increased. The relative mRNA expression of NPY exhibited a quadratic effect (p < 0.01), but there were significant differences in the mRNA expression of AgRP and POMC (p ≥ 0.10). Dietary calcium propionate did not improve lamb growth performance in lambs feed with only forage diets. Intake was not correlated with feed intake with mRNA expression of neuropeptides.

Calcium Propionate Supplementation Has Minor Effects on Major Ruminal Bacterial Community Composition of Early Lactation Dairy Cows

“…As a precursor of glucose, the advantage of propionate feeding to dairy cows is that it can improve milk production and feed intake ( McNamara and Valdez, 2005 ). Cifuentes-Lopez et al (2021) also observed the rumen total VFA increased linearly as dietary calcium propionate increased in fishing lambs. Liu et al (2009) indicated that the calcium propionate supplementation improved the rumen fermentation and the in situ ruminal degradation of organic matter, NDF, and CP in beef cattle.…”

Productividad y características de la canal de ovinos suplementados con propionato de calcio

“…Zhang et al (8) reportan GDP superiores a 300 g/día en terneros suplementados con 0.43 mol/ día de PCa. Otros investigadores no encontraron diferencias con la adición de PCa a raciones de ovinos sobre la GDP y CA (10,14,24). Una mejor GDP, CA y EF se puede deber a que la suplementación con PCa puede mejorar la utilización de nutrientes (27) Un incremento en la concentración energética puede generar aumentos en el peso corporal.…”

“…La suplementación con PCa en la producción animal depende de la especie, edad y estado fisiológico. Por ejemplo, en bovinos se puede incluir en un rango de 50 a 300 g/d (6,7,8) y en ovinos en crecimiento de 10 a 30 g/kg de MS (9,10). El potencial gluconeogénico del PCa permite contrarrestar los efectos del balance energético negativo y cetosis que ocurre al inicio de la lactancia en vacas lecheras (11), cuando las necesidades energéticas para la síntesis láctea no se satisfacen con la dieta (12).…”

Effects of maternal calcium propionate supplementation on offspring productivity and meat metabolomic profile in sheep

“…Afterward, by using a completely randomized design, 31 pregnant ewes were assigned to one of four treatments: a) supplementation of 30 gd−1 of CaPr during the first half of gestation (day 1 to day 75) (FMG); b) supplementation of 30 gd−1 of CaPr during the second half of gestation (day 76 to day 150) (SMG); c) supplementation of 30 gd−1 of CaPr during the whole gestation (AG); d) no CaPr supplementation (control; CS) (Fig 1). The dose of CaPr supplementation was based on a previous study on lambs during the fattening phase (24,25), in which supplementation at a similar dose had positive effects on mRNA abundance on hypothalamic gene expression and lambs' growth. The CaPr (Nutryplus, Queretaro, Mexico) was mixed with concentrate using a feeding wagon each day.…”

“…Zhang et al [ 23 ] have suggested that calcium propionate (CaPr) can play an active role in overcoming problems related to energy balance during gestation and reduce the risk of ketosis and hypocalcemia during lactation in dairy cows. At the same time, different studies have concluded that CaPr dietary supplementation in ruminants could increase the concentration of propionate in the rumen, boosting glucose synthesis in the liver [ 24 , 25 ]. Despite the importance of dietary energy intake during fetal development [ 23 ].…”