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Effects of feeding pregnant beef cows selenium-enriched alfalfa hay on passive transfer of ovalbumin in their newborn calves.

ABSTRACT: Intestinal absorption of immunoglobulins is critical for health and survival of newborn calves because there is no transfer of immunoglobulins in utero. The objective of this study was to determine if feeding beef cows Se-enriched alfalfa hay during the last trimester of gestation improves passive transfer of ovalbumin (OVA), a surrogate protein marker for IgG absorption. Control cows (n?=?15) were fed non-Se-fortified alfalfa hay (5.3?mg Se/head daily) plus a mineral supplement containing inorganic Se (3?mg Se/head daily). Med-Se (n?=?15) and High-Se cows (n?=?15) were fed Se-biofortified alfalfa hay (27.6 and 57.5?mg Se/head daily, respectively); both groups received mineral supplement without added Se. Calves were randomly assigned to receive orally administered OVA at 12, 24, or 36?h of age. Calves that received their oral dose of OVA at 12?h of age had higher serum OVA concentrations across the first 48?h of life if born to High-Se cows compared to calves born to Control cows (P = 0.05), with intermediate values for calves born to Med-Se cows. Our results, using OVA as a model for passive transfer, suggest that if calves do not receive adequate colostrum to reach maximum pinocytosis, then supranutritional Se supplementation in beef cattle may improve passive transfer in their calves, if calves receive colostrum within the first 12?h of age.

SUBMITTER: Apperson KD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7127647 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effects of feeding pregnant beef cows selenium-enriched alfalfa hay on passive transfer of ovalbumin in their newborn calves.

Apperson K Denise KD Vorachek William R WR Dolan Brian P BP Bobe Gerd G Pirelli Gene J GJ Hall Jean A JA

Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology : organ of the Society for Minerals and Trace Elements (GMS) 20180526

Intestinal absorption of immunoglobulins is critical for health and survival of newborn calves because there is no transfer of immunoglobulins in utero. The objective of this study was to determine if feeding beef cows Se-enriched alfalfa hay during the last trimester of gestation improves passive transfer of ovalbumin (OVA), a surrogate protein marker for IgG absorption. Control cows (n = 15) were fed non-Se-fortified alfalfa hay (5.3 mg Se/head daily) plus a mineral supplement containing inorg ...[more]

PMID: 29929926

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Project description:Selenium (Se) is an essential trace mineral important for immune function and overall health of cattle. The nasopharyngeal microbiota in cattle plays an important role in overall respiratory health, especially when stresses associated with weaning, transport, and adaptation to a feedlot affect the normal respiratory defenses. Recent evidence suggests that cattle diagnosed with bovine respiratory disease complex have significantly less bacterial diversity. The objective of this study was to determine whether feeding weaned beef calves Se-enriched alfalfa (Medicago sativa) hay for 9 weeks in a preconditioning program prior to entering the feedlot alters nasal microbiota. Recently weaned beef calves (n = 45) were blocked by sex and body weight, randomly assigned to 3 treatment groups with 3 pens of 5 calves per treatment group, and fed an alfalfa hay based diet for 9 weeks. Alfalfa hay was harvested from fields fertilized with sodium selenate at a rate of 0, 45.0 or 89.9 g Se/ha. Blood samples were collected biweekly and analyzed for whole-blood Se concentrations. Nasal swabs were collected during week 9 from one or two calves from each pen (total n = 16). Calculated Se intake from dietary sources was 3.0, 15.6, and 32.2 mg Se/head/day for calves consuming alfalfa hay with Se concentrations of 0.34 to 2.42 and 5.17 mg Se/kg dry matter, respectively. Whole-blood Se concentrations after 8 weeks of feeding Se-fertilized alfalfa hay were dependent upon Se-application rates (0, 45.0, or 89.9 g Se/ha) and were 155, 345, and 504 ng/mL (PLinear < 0.0001). Microbial DNA was extracted from nasal swabs and amplified and sequenced. Alpha rarefaction curves comparing the species richness (observed OTUs) and overall diversity (Chao1, Observed OTU, and Shannon index) between calves fed selenium-biofortified alfalfa hay compared with control calves showed that Se-supplementation tended to be associated with an enriched nasal microbiota. ANOSIM of unweighted UniFrac distances showed that calves fed high Se-biofortified alfalfa hay clustered separately when compared with control calves in the PCoA plot (R = 0.216, P = 0.04). The bacterial orders Lactobacillales and Flavobacteriales were increased in healthy control calves compared with Clostridiales and Bacteroidales being increased in calves fed Se-biofortified alfalfa hay. Although there were strong trends, no significant differences were noted for any of the bacterial taxa. Based upon these findings, we suggest that weaned beef calves fed Se-biofortified hay tend to have an enriched nasal microbiota. Feeding Se-biofortified alfalfa hay to weaned beef calves prior to entering the feedlot is a strategy for increasing nasopharyngeal microbial diversity.

Project description:Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient for growth and immune function in beef cattle. We previously showed that supranutritional maternal organic Se supplementation during late pregnancy improves immune function in their newborn calves; however, the effects of maternal organic Se-supplementation on fetal programming during different pregnancy stages have yet to be elucidated. Herein, we investigated the effects of supranutritional maternal organic Se-supplementation in different pregnancy trimesters on their beef calf's genome-wide transcriptome profiles. Within 12 to 48 h of birth, whole blood and Longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle biopsies were collected from calves born to 40 crossbred Angus cows that received, except for the control group (CTR), Se-yeast boluses (105 mg of Se/wk) during the first (TR1), second (TR2), or third (TR3) trimester of gestation. Whole-blood Se concentrations of newborn calves increased from CTR, TR1, TR2 to TR3, whereas muscle Se concentrations of newborn calves were only increased in TR3 group. We identified 3048 unique differentially expressed genes (DEGs) across all group comparisons (FDR ≤ 0.05 and |log2FC| ≥ 1.5). Furthermore, we predicted 237 unique transcription factors that putatively regulate the DEGs. Independent of supplementation trimester, supranutritional maternal organic Se supplementation downregulated genes involved in adaptive immunity in all trimesters. Dependent on supplementation trimester, genes involved in muscle development were upregulated by TR3 Se supplementation and downregulated by TR1 Se-supplementation, and genes involved in collagen formation were downregulated by TR2 Se-supplementation. Supranutritional maternal organic Se supplementation in the last trimester of pregnancy resulted in upregulation of myosin and actin filament associated genes, potentially allowing for optimal muscle function and contraction. Our findings suggest a beneficial effect of supranutritional maternal organic Se supplementation during late gestation on Se-status and muscle development and function of newborn calves.

Project description:The present study aims to evaluate the effects of different early weaning paradigms, which supplied with extra alfalfa hay, or starter feeding, or both alfalfa hay and starter feeding, along with the milk replacer, on the gastrointestinal microbial community, growth, and immune performance of yak calves. Twenty 30-day-old male yak calves were randomly assigned to four groups, including the control (CON), alfalfa hay (A), starter feeding (S), and starter plus alfalfa hay (SA) groups. The gastrointestinal microbial colonization, the gastrointestinal development and function, and the growth and immune performance of all the yak calves were separately measured. Supplementation with alfalfa and starter feeding during the pre-weaning period significantly increased body weight, body height, body length, and chest girth. The significantly improved rumen fermentation and promoted intestinal digestion-absorption function in alfalfa and starter feeding groups, including the identified significantly increased concentrations of ruminal total volatile fatty acid (VFA); the significantly increased concentrations and proportions of acetate, butyrate, and isovalerate; the increased ?-amylase activities in the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum; the increased papillae length and width of rumen epithelium and rumen wall thickness; and the increased villus height and crypt depth of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, could all contribute to promote the growth of calves. These significant improvements on rumen fermentation and intestinal digestion-absorption function could be further attributed to the increased proliferation of starch-decomposing, and cellulose- or hemicellulose-decomposing bacteria identified in the rumen, jejunum, and ileum. Furthermore, based on the expression of intestinal inflammatory cytokines and the rumen epithelial RNA sequencing results, alfalfa supplementation reduced the occurrence of ruminal and intestinal inflammation, whereas starter feeding supplementation was mainly beneficial to the differentiation of immune cells and the improved immune function. Meanwhile, the significantly altered relative abundances of genera in the SA group, including increased relative abundance of Limnobacter, Escherichia/Shigella, and Aquabacterium in the rumen and increased relative abundance of Coprococcus, Pseudobutyrivibrio, Flavonifractor, Synergistes, and Sutterella in jejunum, were able to reduce gastrointestinal inflammation and enhance the immune function, which enhanced the immune function of the yak calves fed with alfalfa and starter feeding. Overall, milk replacer supplemented with alfalfa and starter feeding during the pre-weaning period could alter gastrointestinal microbiota and then benefit the gastrointestinal development, digestion-absorption function, growth, and immune performance of the yak calves.

Project description:BackgroundSelenium (Se) is important for the postnatal development of the calf. In the first weeks of life, milk is the only source of Se for the calf and insufficient level of Se in the milk may lead to Se deficiency. Maternal Se supplementation is used to prevent this.We investigated the effect of dietary Se-enriched yeast (SY) or sodium selenite (SS) supplements on selected blood parameters and on Se concentrations in the blood, colostrum, and milk of Se-deficient Charolais cows.MethodsCows in late pregnancy received a mineral premix with Se (SS or SY, 50 mg Se per kg premix) or without Se (control--C). Supplementation was initiated 6 weeks before expected calving. Blood and colostrum samples were taken from the cows that had just calved (Colostral period). Additional samples were taken around 2 weeks (milk) and 5 weeks (milk and blood) after calving corresponding to Se supplementation for 6 and 12 weeks, respectively (Lactation period) for Se, biochemical and haematological analyses.ResultsColostral period. Se concentrations in whole blood and colostrum on day 1 post partum and in colostrum on day 3 post partum were 93.0, 72.9, and 47.5 microg/L in the SY group; 68.0, 56.0 and 18.8 microg/L in the SS group; and 35.1, 27.3 and 10.5 microg/L in the C group, respectively. Differences among all the groups were significant (P < 0.01) at each sampling, just as the colostrum Se content decreases were from day 1 to day 3 in each group. The relatively smallest decrease in colostrum Se concentration was found in the SY group (P < 0.01).Lactation period. The mean Se concentrations in milk in weeks 6 and 12 of supplementation were 20.4 and 19.6 microg/L in the SY group, 8.3 and 11.9 microgg/L in the SS group, and 6.9 and 6.6 microgg/L in the C group, respectively. The values only differed significantly in the SS group (P < 0.05). The Se concentrations in the blood were similar to those of cows examined on the day of calving. The levels of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity were 364.70, 283.82 and 187.46 microgkat/L in the SY, SS, and C groups, respectively. This was the only significantly variable biochemical and haematological parameter.ConclusionSe-enriched yeast was much more effective than sodium selenite in increasing the concentration of Se in the blood, colostrum and milk, as well as the GSH-Px activity.

Dataset Information

Effects of feeding pregnant beef cows selenium-enriched alfalfa hay on passive transfer of ovalbumin in their newborn calves.

Publications

Effects of feeding pregnant beef cows selenium-enriched alfalfa hay on passive transfer of ovalbumin in their newborn calves.

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