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Ruminant Metabolic Disorder Model Development

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Background Metabolic Disorder Model Development Common Metabolic Disorders Applications Why Choose Us?

Ruminants, such as dairy cows, beef cattle, goats, and sheep, play a crucial role in providing humans with protein, meat, hides, and fur resources. The quality of these products is directly linked to the health of these animals, making it a significant focus for animal nutrition researchers. Different metabolic disorders can occur in ruminants at various stages of growth and with different energy requirements, which can have severe consequences, including death. To better understand the metabolic processes in ruminants, the modeling of nutritional metabolic disorders has been proven to be a valuable approach. BioVenic offers a comprehensive solution for Metabolic Disorder Animal Model Development, including ruminant metabolic disorder model development. This solution covers various aspects such as model construction, model validation, and the development of detection methods for model-related indicators, all tailored to meet your research requirements.

Background

In both inherited and acquired metabolic disorders and diseases of ruminants, issues arise from faulty biochemical pathways and deficiencies in enzymes, coenzymes, or cofactors. Several factors, including genetics, diet, and environmental conditions (such as overcrowding, group changes, and high temperatures), influence the normal metabolic state of ruminants. Some common metabolic disorders, as outlined in Table 1, have a significant impact on animal health and the quality of products like meat and milk derived from ruminants. By employing modeling techniques for nutritional metabolic disorders, researchers gain a valuable tool to study the mechanisms underlying these disorders, develop new feed options, and conduct comparative studies, among other applications.

Ruminant Metabolic Disorder Model Development

  • Development of Diet-Induced Ruminant Metabolic Disorder Models

By influencing the metabolic processes in ruminants, dietary factors play a significant role in the development of ruminant metabolic disorder models. Specialized diets have been utilized to induce such models, for instance, high grain diets inducing subacute rumen acidosis or lipid supplementation inducing milk fat depression. At BioVenic, we provide a comprehensive solution for developing diet-induced ruminant metabolic disorder models. Our expertise will assist you in selecting suitable inducing diets, determining the optimal supplementation ratio, and more.

  • Evaluation of Biomarkers in Ruminant Metabolic Disorder Models

Ruminant metabolic disorders often manifest through changes in appearance, physiological and biochemical parameters, rumen pH, rumen microbes, and metabolites. To simplify the process of developing ruminant metabolic disorder models, our Animal Nutrition and Metabolism Analysis service aids in the detection of indicators for such disorders (e.g., single metabolites, biochemical parameters, microbiome, and metabolomics). Furthermore, we offer assistance in developing novel testing methods to enable quick, accurate, and non-invasive detection of nutritional metabolism in your animals. These services will facilitate research on the mechanisms underlying ruminant nutritional metabolic diseases and the development of feed supplements.

Additionally, our animal feed analysis services enable you to assess the energy, carbohydrate, and nutrient composition of your feed, facilitating the development of diets appropriate for inducing ruminant metabolic disorder models.

Common Metabolic Disorders in Ruminants

Metabolic Disorders Causes Indicators
Ruminal acidosis syndrome Feeding of diets with higher grain amounts.
  • Drops in rumen pH.
    Subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) occurs when the ruminal pH is lower than 5.5–5.8 for several hours a day.
  • Changes in the ruminal microbial populations.
  • Reduced fiber digestion.
  • Decreased feed intake.
  • Decreased milk fat production.
  • Altered fatty acids profile.
  • Inflammation.
Hypocalcemia (Milk fever) Failure of homeostatic mechanisms to maintain normal blood Ca concentrations at the onset of lactation.
  • Blood Ca concentration.
    Subclinical hypocalcemia total blood Ca concentrations being between 1.38 and 2.0 mM (Suzuki, 2021).
  • Ethargy, excitability, prolonged recumbency, even death.
Ketosis Lack of glucose and energy imbalance
  • Excessive amount of ketone bodies (β-hydroxybutyric acid, acetoacetic acid, and acetone) in a cow's body fluids
  • Fat-protein ratio in milk
  • Loss of appetite, preference for pellets over concentrates, and acetone odor in mouth and urine, decreased milk production, lethargy, and an empty-looking belly.
Fatty liver The hepatic uptake of lipids exceeds the oxidation and secretion of lipids by the liver, which is usually preceded by high concentrations of plasma NEFA mobilized from adipose tissue.
  • The only credible diagnostic method is the liver biopsy.
  • FGF-21 and total Hb could be potentially used as fatty liver biomarkers in lactating dairy cows (Shen, 2018).
  • Decreased health status and reproductive performance, decreased milk production and feed intake.
Milk fat depression Most commonly occurs in dairy cows fed diets with a high ratio of carbohydrate to roughage.
  • A decrease in milk fat by 0.2% or more.
  • The appearance of trans-10, cis-12 CLA in the milk fat.
Bloat A condition secondary to acid indigestion, certain proteins in the feed, the amount, rate of intake, and coarseness of the roughage. Swelling of the left side of the animal as the primary sign.
Grass tetany There is not enough magnesium in the blood. Low serum magnesium-level, values below 1 mg per 100 mL.

Applications of Ruminant Metabolic Disorder Models

  • Evaluation of Nutritional Strategies

Various nutritional strategies have been employed to control ruminant nutritional metabolic disorders. By comparing indicators related to these disorders before and after implementing specific nutritional strategies, their safety and effectiveness can be assessed. This evaluation provides valuable theoretical support for the development of new feeding methods, feed ingredients, and ruminant feed additives.

  • Exploration of Mechanisms in Ruminant Metabolic Disorder

The causes of many ruminant nutrient metabolism disorders are unknown. With the help of animal models of ruminant nutrient metabolism disorders, it is possible to explore the mechanisms and provide us with a deeper understanding of the nutritional physiological characteristics of ruminants.

Why Choose Us?

Our focus lies in the latest advancements in nutritional research concerning ruminants, including dairy cattle, beef cattle, goats, sheep, and more. Count on us to provide you with informative perspectives that are at the forefront of the field.

Our team members possess specialized knowledge in animal nutrition and metabolism, ensuring a deep understanding of your research requirements. We are committed to effective communication, working closely with you to meet your specific needs.

With our extensive range of animal nutrition products and services, we offer solutions catering to various research models for ruminant nutritional metabolic disorders. We are equipped to address a wide array of requirements in this domain.

Our services encompass a comprehensive one-stop program tailored to fulfill your research needs. We provide support throughout the entire process, from the establishment and validation of ruminant nutrient metabolism disorder models to their subsequent application in your studies.

BioVenic firmly believes that building robust models is the cornerstone of meaningful ruminant nutrition research. Having extensively studied the literature and books revolving around ruminant nutrient metabolism disorder models, our expertise stems from a strong foundation. If you need assistance with the construction, validation, or application of a ruminant nutritional and metabolic disorder model, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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