Effects of dietary menthol-rich bioactive lipid compounds on zootechnical traits, blood variables and gastrointestinal function in growing sheep

Abstract

BackgroundThe present study aimed at investigating the influence of 90% menthol-containing plant bioactive lipid compounds (PBLC, essential oils) on growth performance, blood haematological and biochemical profile, and nutrient absorption in sheep. Twenty-four growing Suffolk sheep were allotted into three dietary treatments: Control (without PBLC), lower dose of PBLC (PBLC-L; 80 mg/d) and higher dose of PBLC (PBLC-H; 160 mg/d). Sheep in all groups were fed meadow hay ad libitum plus 600 g/d of concentrate pellets for 28 d.ResultsAverage daily gain was not affected by treatment. Feeding of PBLC increased hay and total feed intake per kg body weight (P < 0.05). Counts of total leucocytes, lymphocytes and monocytes were not different among treatments. However, neutrophil count decreased (P < 0.05) in PBLC-H with a similar trend in PBLC-L (P < 0.10). Concentrations of glucose, bilirubin, triglycerides, cholesterol, urea and magnesium in serum were not different among sheep fed different doses of PBLC. However, serum calcium concentration tended to increase in PBLC-H (P < 0.10) and serum concentrations of aspartate & asparagine (P < 0.01) and glutamate & glutamine (P < 0.05) increased linearly with increasing PBLC dose. In ruminal epithelia isolated from the rumen after killing, baseline conductance (Gt; P < 0.05) and short-circuit current (Isc; P < 0.01) increased in both PBLC groups. Ruminal uptakes of glucose and methionine in the presence of Na+ were not affected by the dietary PBLC supplementation. In the absence of Na+, however, glucose and methionine uptakes increased (P < 0.05) in PBLC-H. In the jejunum, Isc tended to increase in PBLC-H (P < 0.10), but baseline Gt was not affected. Intestinal uptakes of glucose and methionine were not influenced by PBLC in the presence or absence of Na+.ConclusionThe results suggest that menthol-rich PBLC increase feed intake, and passive ion and nutrient transport, the latter specifically in the rumen. They also increased serum concentrations of urea precursor amino acids and tended to increase serum calcium concentrations. Future studies will have to show whether some of these findings might be commonly linked to a stimulation of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels in the gastrointestinal tract.

Effects of dietary supplementation with rosemary oil on methanogenic bacteria density, blood and rumen parameters and meat quality of fattening lambs

“…They also reported that the responses of EOs to VFA concentrations may depend on the type of substrate consumed by ruminants and the pH of the rumen fluid. Patra et al (2019) found that doses of EO did not change the results of ruminal microbial fermentation, and that stable fermentation is maintained during minor microbial alterations as a result of metabolic redundancy of the ruminal ecosystem. More in vivo studies are needed to confirm our results.…”

“…The feed intake of lambs in the R500 group was lower, and this may be due to the intense aroma effect of EO, but the results for similar DM intake should also be evaluated. Low doses were noted to stimulate appetite and increase total feed intake per body weight (Patra et al 2019). Moroever, in vivo experiments are required to decide optimum dose levels, and low doses that have a stimulating effect (Patra 2016).…”

“…Harmon (2009) stated that feed containing high starch increases blood glucose levels in ruminant, but there was no significant effect of rosemary oil supplementation doses on serum insulin, BUN and triglyceride levels. Moreover, it is stated that the addition of 80-160 mg/d EO to diets does not change the blood biochemical profile (Patra et al 2019). BUN concentration is a result of the NH 3 -N concentration produced in the rumen.…”

Effects of Gut Microbiome and Short-Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs) on Finishing Weight of Meat Rabbits

“…Additionally, we found that the gut microbiota of rabbits with high finishing weight preferred to be involved in the biosynthesis of asparagine, cysteine, and arginine, but gut microbial communities in low finishing weight rabbits were more active in metabolizing tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine. Although asparagine is a non-essential amino acid, emerging evidence has demonstrated that it plays a key role in attenuating intestinal injury and improving the energy status of enterocytes, all of which are good for the health and growth of animals (Wang et al, 2015;Patra et al, 2019). Cysteine is able to regulate the antioxidant status and expression of anti-inflammatory genes in intestinal cells, which exert beneficial effects on body weight gain in pigs and chickens (Dilger and Baker, 2007;Yang and Liao, 2019).…”

Expression Profiles of the Ovine IL18 Gene and Association of Its Polymorphism With Hematologic Parameters in Hu Lambs

“…In livestock breeding, health-related traits are becoming a priority, while hematologic parameters are important to evaluate the health condition, feeding management and nutrition level of animal, and the variation hematologic traits are caused by genetic and non-genetic (e.g., breed, age, sex and management systems) (24). At present, the studies on sheep hematologic parameters mainly focus on nutrition level and breed (25)(26)(27). In this study, the hematologic traits were measured for 819 male Hu sheep aged 6 months under the same nutritional level and management conditions, and the descriptive statistics and heritability estimates were performed for these traits, the results shown the average values were within the reference ranges of sheep according to the previous studies (26), the coefficient of variation were >10%, suggesting that these indexes have a certain selection space in the Hu sheep population.…”