Evaluation of herbal choline in productive performance and blood metabolites of ewes

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effect of different levels of protected herbal choline (CHP) on productive performance, carcass characteristics, and serum metabolites in ewes. Design/Methodology/Approach: Fifty-two Hampshire × Suffolk ewes (29.95 ± 3.90 kg of initial live weight, PV) were randomly assigned to one within four treatments: 0, 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9% choline kg-1 dry matter (MS). The experimental design was complete randomized, in order to detect linear or quadratic trends. Results: No treatment effects were detected in the production variables, GD and AML with the addition of protected herbal choline in the diet (p>0.05). CHP linearly increased the concentration of cholesterol, glucose, albumins, globulins, total proteins (p≤0.05) and phosphatidylcholine (p≤0.10). The triglyceride concentration had a quadratic response (p≤0.05) to the addition of CHP. Study limitations/Implications: The level of choline supplementation in sheep depends on whether the source is herbal or synthetic. Findings/Conclusions: The addition of CHP in ewe diets raised the concentration of phosphatidylcholine, modified the concentration of protein and lipid metabolites. However, no improvements in production were found.

A Polyherbal Mixture with Nutraceutical Properties for Ruminants: A Meta-Analysis and Review of BioCholine Powder

“…Microarrays allow for a better understanding of the genome and transcriptome, as shown by evaluating all genes in the phenomenon studied [ 78 ]. The overall results in pathways allow us to explain the improvements in performance parameters in sheep [ 28 , 35 , 37 , 43 , 44 ], antioxidant status [ 36 ], and immune response and cattle health [ 41 , 47 ].…”

“…Ruminant blood tests have been reported in 12 experiments [ 28 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 48 , 49 ]; unfortunately, the blood concentration of Ptdcho was evaluated (evidence of exceeding the metabolites of Ptdcho) only in one experiment [ 28 ], whereby increasing the dose of BioCholine caused a linear increase in blood Ptdcho. The other metabolites shown are indicators of effects in the animal due to the polyherbal.…”

“…The globulin values were not consistent. Some experiments showed increases [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 43 ], and others showed reductions [ 28 , 35 , 41 , 49 ], but the meta-analysis allowed us to identify that with doses >8 g/d, globulin concentrations increased. The changes in total protein, globulins, and urea reduction suggest that BioCholine affects protein metabolism, presumably in the liver.…”

“…et al[35] 65 Ewes 0, 5 Completely randomized design (repeated measures) Alba et al[36] 20 Ewes 0, 5, 10 Completely randomized design (repeated measures) Ayala-Monter et al[37] 52 Ewes 0, 5, 10, 15 Completely randomized design (dose response) Bárcena-Gama et al[38] …”

Recent Advances in the Use of Probiotics to Improve Meat Quality of Small Ruminants: A Review

“…Therefore, many investigators focused on antibiotics substitutes, namely feed additives or supplements as probiotics (as single or mixed strains) to the animal feed [ 5 , 6 ]. Probiotics have been shown to have positive effects on the microbial ecosystem [ 7 ], nutrient synthesis [ 4 , 8 ], growth performance [ 9 ], carcass weight [ 10 , 11 ], muscle production and meat quality [ 3 , 12 , 13 , 14 ], prevention of enteric diseases [ 15 ], and immunity [ 16 ]. A study showed that 2.5 months of dietary supplement of probiotics ( Lacticasebacillus rhamnosus ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ) could maintain microbial balance in the gastrointestinal tracts of weanling lambs [ 6 ].…”