Insulin-like growth factors (IGF) are important mediators of growth, lactation, reproduction, and health. Considerable information on their role in ruminant animals has been learned in the past several years, but the precise mechanisms of their action are not known. The exact biological response of target cells is undoubtedly determined by the developmental state of the cell and synergism with other growth factors. Overall, somatomedins and their binding proteins seem to be major links between cellular developmental processes and nutrient supply. The mechanism by which nutrients control biological actions of somatomedins is not known but clearly involves the synthesis of IGF, as well as their binding proteins and receptors. In ruminants, severe feed restriction decreases circulating concentrations of IGF-I, whereas subtle alterations typical of those that occur in production systems have minimal effect. However, the responses of IGF to somatotropin are affected by modest alterations in nutritional status, including differences in nutritional status that are typically encountered in animal production systems.
Lactating Holstein cows were used to assess the effect of bovine somatotropin (bST; n = 8) and fasting (FAST; n = 4) on ligand binding to beta-adrenergic (BAR) and Type-1 adenosine (A1R) receptors in adipose tissue. Cows received exogenous bST (sometribove; 40 mg/d) or no hormone (control) for 4 d in a single-reversal design with a 7-d interval between treatment periods. Subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies were taken on day 4 of each treatment. Eight d after the bST regimen, 4 cows were fasted for 3 d and adipose biopsies were taken. Ligand binding was quantified with a postnuclear, total adipose tissue membrane preparation (100,000 x g pellet). Binding to BAR and A1R was assessed with the antagonists [125I]iodocyanopindolol (ICP) and [3H]8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DCPCX), respectively. The binding affinity (Kd) of BAR for ICP was not affected by bST but was enhanced by FAST; maximal binding (Bmax) was increased with bST treatment (P < 0.06) and reduced by FAST (61%, P < 0.01). Kd values for DCPCX binding to A1R were not changed by bST or FAST. bST did not affect Bmax for A1R; however, FAST reduced the Bmax by 38%. Data highlight the differential regulation of BAR and A1R by bST and FAST.
Abstract Functional traits are commonly used to calculate a wide array of functional diversity indices to infer different mechanisms of community assembly and species coexistence. Recently, the degree of interspecific covariation between multiple functional traits has been suggested as a mechanism influencing both species distributions and abundances in communities. However, empirical assessments of this theory along environmental gradients are still scarce due to the lack of an appropriate method and of sufficiently strong environmental gradients. Here we compare interspecific trait integration (ITI) across plant communities along a marked gradient of copper toxicity in the soil, using new multivariate and bivariate indices. This was achieved using the range of the eigenvalues of a principal component analysis on the traits of the species in a local community (multivariate ITI index) and the correlations between traits in local communities (bivariate ITI index). We show that the plant metal tolerance strategy (i.e. leaf metal content) is relatively independent from leaf economics, while negatively correlated to plant size. In addition, our results indicate a weak support for the expected general patterns of trait syndromes, such as the ‘leaf economics spectrum’ or the ‘leaf–height–seed’, at the whole‐community scale. This arises from an increase in multivariate trait integration along the soil copper gradient. The strongest trait integration is caused by an increase in the degree of association between certain traits on metal‐rich soils. The multivariate trait integration explains species richness better than other commonly used functional diversity indices. Our study highlights the power of ITI, as well as its complementarity to other functional diversity indices, to investigate the variation in functional strategies and their drivers along environmental gradients. The increase in trait integration with soil metal toxicity in plant communities supports that highly constraining environments select increasingly coordinated sets of functional traits, in turn possibly driving the decrease in species richness. Further studies should assess the generality and underlying physiological mechanisms of such ecological patterns.
Short-term studies (< 5 d) involving abomasal infusion of a mixture of CLA isomers or pure trans-10, cis-12 CLA have demonstrated that supplements of conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) reduce milk fat synthesis during established lactation in dairy cows. Our objective was to assess longer term effects of supplementation during established lactation using a dietary supplement of rumen-protected CLA. Thirty Holstein cows were blocked by parity and received a dietary fat supplement of either Ca-salts of palm oil fatty acids (control) or a mixture of Ca-salts of palm oil fatty acids plus Ca-salts of CLA (CLA treatment). Supplements provided about 90 g/d of fatty acids and were topdressed on the TMR. The CLA supplement provided 30.4 g/d of CLA in which the predominant isomers were: trans-8, cis-10 (9.2%), cis-9, trans-11 (25.1%), trans-10, cis-12 (28.9%), and cis-11, trans-13 (16.1%). All cows were pregnant; treatments were initiated on d 79 of pregnancy (∼ 200 d prepartum) and continued for 140 d until dry off. Twenty-three cows completed the study; those receiving CLA supplement had a lower milk fat test (2.90 versus 3.80%) and a 23% reduction in milk fat yield (927 versus 1201 g/d). Intake of DM, milk yield, and the yield and content of true protein and lactose in milk were unaffected by treatment. Milk fat analysis indicated that the CLA supplement reduced the secretion of fatty acids of all chain lengths. However, effects were proportionally greater on short and medium chain fatty acids, thereby causing a shift in the milk fatty acid composition to a greater content of longer-chain fatty acids. Changes in body weight gain, body condition score, and net energy balance were not significant and imply no differences in cows fed the CLA supplement in replenishment of body reserves in late lactation. Likewise, maintenance of pregnancy, gestation length, and calf birth weight were unaffected by treatment. Overall, feeding a dietary supplement of rumen-protected CLA to pregnant cows over the last 140 d of the lactation cycle resulted in a marked reduction in milk fat content and yield, and a shift in milk fatty acid composition, but other milk components, DMI, maintenance of pregnancy, and cow well-being were unaffected.
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a naturally occurring anticarcinogen found in dairy products, is a byproduct of incomplete ruminal biohydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids. Our objective was to determine the effect of nonstructural carbohydrate sources, addition of full fat extruded soybeans as a source of unsaturated fatty acids, and possible interactions on the milk fat content of CLA. Cows (n = 20) were assigned to a 4 x 4 Latin square involving two sources of nonstructural carbohydrate, high starch (corn) or high pectin (citrus pulp), with or without addition of extruded soybeans. Milk yield was not affected by nonstructural carbohydrate source, but milk production was increased by 7.8 to 10.5% with dietary additions of extruded soybeans. Milk fat content did not differ between treatments, but fatty acid composition was affected. Cows fed extruded soybean diets had reduced concentrations of C8 to C16 fatty acids and increased concentrations of octadecenoic acids. Diets with extruded soybeans also resulted in more than a doubling in milk fat concentration and yield of CLA. Nonstructural carbohydrate source had only minor effects on CLA, and there was no interaction with extruded soybeans. Milk fat content of trans-C18:1 and CLA were closely related (r2 = 0.77). However, variation among cows was about threefold for each of the diets and rank order of individual cows differed among diets. Overall, we demonstrated that diet modification can be used to alter CLA content of milk fat, but there was substantial individual cow variation for all diets.