Studies on the growth-stimulatory activity of pigeon milk-comparison and synergistic effects with serum

Abstract

Pigeon milk, a nutritive secretion from the crop of breeding pigeons, was tested (on v/v basis) for growth factor activity either separately or in combination with other growth supplements. Synthesis of DNA in confluent monolayers of quiescent Chinese hamster ovary cells was enhanced by the homogenates of pigeon milk in the presence of both fetal bovine serum and bovine serum albumin, although the response with fetal bovine serum was greater than that with bovine serum albumin. The in vitro growth stimulation by pigeon milk was also reflected in the increase in cell number. Specific activity of pigeon milk growth factor, measured against both Chinese hamster ovary cells and mouse embryo fibroblasts, was found to be higher than that of fetal calf serum, fetal bovine serum, and goat, horse, pig and human serum. The growth-stimulatory property of pigeon milk did not change in the first 5 days of its secretion.

Age-Related Changes in Serum Lipid Levels, Hepatic Morphology, Antioxidant Status, Lipid Metabolism Related Gene Expression and Enzyme Activities of Domestic Pigeon Squabs (Columba livia)

“…2 Nutrient values were calculated from tables of feed composition and nutritive values in China (twenty-eighth edition, 2017). 3 Metabolizable energy values determined in pigeons were calculated from those reported for chickens, in accordance with a previous study (Hullar et al 1999), which observed that the metabolizable energy values of feed in pigeons did not differ significantly from those in chickens. 4 The premix provided the following per kg of diet: Vitamin A 5000 IU, Vitamin E 50 IU, Vitamin D 3 2000 IU, copper sulfate 15 mg, manganese sulfate 45 mg, zinc sulfate 90 mg.…”

“…Unlike other poultry, as altrices, newly hatched pigeon squabs are initially fed with pigeon milk, which is secreted by the crop of their parents [2]. Composed of desquamated epithelial cells of their crop mucosa [3], crop milk is deficient in carbohydrate and mainly contains protein and lipids which maintain squab growth [4,5]. As squabs grow up, crop milk is gradually mixed with increasing quantities of grains derived from the parental diet and finally replaced by these grains completely [6], which results in the lipids of crop milk displaying significant quantitative changes in the feeding period.…”