Impact of Goji Berries (Lycium barbarum) Supplementation on the Energy Homeostasis of Rabbit Does: Uni- and Multivariate Approach

Abstract

This study examined the effects of goji berries dietary supplementation on the energetic metabolism of doe. Thirty days before artificial insemination, 75 New Zealand White does were assigned to three different diets: commercial standard diet (C) and supplemented with 1% (LG) and 3% (HG) of goji berries, respectively. Body conditions, hormones and metabolites were monitored until weaning. Body weight and BCS were higher in HG than C (p < 0.05). LG showed lower T3/T4 ratio and cortisol concentrations (p < 0.05) and tended to have lower indices of insulin resistances (p < 0.1) than HG. Compared to control, leptin was higher in HG at AI (p < 0.01) and in LG during lactation (p < 0.05). Two principal components were extracted by multivariate analysis describing the relationships between (1) non-esterified fatty acids, insulin and glucose levels, and (2) body conditions and leptin metabolism. The first component highlighted the energy deficit and the insulin resistance of the does during pregnancy and lactation. The second one showed that leptin, body weight and Body Condition Score (BCS) enhance as levels of goji berries in the diet increase. Thus, the effects of goji supplementation are dose-dependent: an improvement on energy metabolism was achieved with a low-dose while the highest dose could determine excessive fattening and insulin resistance in does.

How the kinetic behavior of organic chickens affects productive performance and blood and meat oxidative status: a study of six poultry genotypes

“…Thus, 7 different models were used to analyze the kinetic behavior variables ( PCA1 ), productive performance traits ( PCA2 ), markers of blood oxidative stress ( PCA3 ), technological traits ( PCA4 ), and proximate composition ( PCA5 ) of meat, markers of meat oxidative stress ( PCA6 ), and fatty acid profile and nutritional indices ( PCA7 ). The variables were included in each PCA after inspection of the correlation matrix and communalities ( Righi et al, 2019 ; Menchetti et al, 2020a ). However, some metabolically or qualitatively important variables (e.g., tocols) were retained despite their low commonalities.…”

“…However, some metabolically or qualitatively important variables (e.g., tocols) were retained despite their low commonalities. One component (PC) for each PCA was retained to evaluate its performance through the total variance explained, the Kaiser criterion, and the Bartlett's test ( Garson, 2008 ; Menchetti et al., 2020a, b ). The sign of the loadings (and of the scores) of PC6 was reversed to facilitate its interpretation.…”

Effects of Feed Supplementation on Nesfatin-1, Insulin, Glucagon, Leptin, T3, Cortisol, and BCS in Milking Ewes Grazing on Semi-Natural Pastures

“…On the other hand, in early lactation, low TH, leptin and insulin levels can indicate an energy deficiency of ewes, even despite the concentrate supplementation. Blood metabolic hormones and BCS are very useful tools for the assessment of ewes’ nutritional status in very demanding physiological states, such as late pregnancy and lactation [ 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ].…”

“…Regarding the COR peak observed in SUP ewes at the last sampling, different papers report similar effects by heat stress in small ruminants [ 46 , 47 ]. The serum COR levels were the highest during summer [ 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ] and positively correlated with ambient temperature, showing reverse trends and negative correlations with TH [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ]. Moreover, during thermal stress, feed-restricted ewes [ 51 ] and rams [ 25 ] showed less increase in cortisol blood concentrations: therefore, if the nutritional deficit is added to thermal stress, the animals can adjust their response, avoiding the potential adverse effects of extreme cortisol action, as it could be the case of the UNS group of the present study.…”

“…The farm where our ewes were kept suffered a lot of damage, as well as the houses of the farmers, so it was not possible to carry on the intended further controls, and the overall situation after the earthquake could have direct and indirect effects influencing the results. Despite this accident, fortunately, we had the possibility to have some indication from research performed on other ewes of the same flock, which showed that the feed supplementation had a positive effect on resistin production in the sheep uterine glands [ 52 ] and in the apelinergic system expression in both mammary glands and female reproductive apparatus [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 ].…”