Increased expression of serine biosynthetic pathway genes is associated with skeletal muscle hypertrophy in sheep

Incidence of hormonal growth stimulant and antibiotics residues in chicken meat

The purpose of this study is to determine the level of antibiotic residues in poultry meat sold in the city of Almaty, which is a megacity of Kazakhstan, and compare it with the Minimum Residue Level set by World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization. Determination of hormonal growth stimulators (progesterone, testosterone, estradiol-17β) and antibiotics (tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and streptomycin) in poultry was carried out using immunoassay according to the manufacturer’s instruction. The results of monitoring showed that in the Almaty region annually wholesale deliveries of meat products from the USA, Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia are carried out regularly. On average in the region from 2016 to 2019, the specific weight meat imports averaged 47.9% of total consumption. A total of 105 samples were examined by us between 2019 and 2020, including 63-import meat and 42 samples of the meat of local production. Due to the particular importance of this problem, the main focus of the article`s goal is to conduct monitoring studies on imported and domestic meat for the residual content of hormones and antibiotics in poultry meat. As a result of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of poultry meat, an excess level of maximum residue was detected in eight brands of imported meat.

Improving efficiency in meat production

Selective breeding and improved nutritional management over the past 20–30 years has resulted in dramatic improvements in growth efficiency for pigs and poultry, particularly lean tissue growth. However, this has been achieved using high-quality feed ingredients, such as wheat and soya that are also used for human consumption and more recently biofuels production. Ruminants on the other hand are less efficient, but are normally fed poorer quality ingredients that cannot be digested by human subjects, such as grass or silage. The challenges therefore are to: (i) maintain the current efficiency of growth of pigs and poultry, but using more ingredients not needed to feed the increasing human population or for the production of biofuels; (ii) improve the efficiency of growth in ruminants; (iii) at the same time produce animal products (meat, milk and eggs) of equal or improved quality. This review will describe the use of: (a) enzyme additives for animal feeds, to improve feed digestibility; (b) known growth promoting agents, such as growth hormone, β-agonists and anabolic steroids, currently banned in the European Union but used in other parts of the world; (c) recent transcriptomic studies into molecular mechanisms for improved growth efficiency via low residual feed intake. In doing so, the use of genetic manipulation in animals will also be discussed.