Effects of a traditional Chinese medicine formula and its extraction on muscle fiber characteristics in finishing pigs, porcine cell proliferation and isoforms of myosin heavy chain gene expression in myocytes

Circular RNAs Mediate the Effects of Dietary Tryptophan on the Transformation of Muscle Fiber Types in Weaned Piglets

The nutritional composition of the diet significantly impacts the overall growth and development of weaned piglets. The current study aimed to explore the effects and underlying mechanisms of dietary tryptophan consumption on muscle fiber type transformation during the weaning period. Thirty weaned piglets with an average body weight of 6.12 ± 0.16 kg were randomly divided into control (CON, 0.14% Trp diet) and high Trp (HT, 0.35% Trp) groups and maintained on the respective diet for 28 days. The HT group of weaned piglets exhibited highly significant improvements in growth performance and an increased proportion of fast muscle fibers. Transcriptome sequencing revealed the potential contribution of differentially expressed circular RNAs toward the transformation of myofiber types in piglets and toward the regulation of expression of related genes by targeting the microRNAs, miR-34c and miR-182, to further regulate myofiber transformation. In addition, 145 DE circRNAs were identified as potentially protein-encoding, with the encoded proteins associated with a myofiber type transformation. In conclusion, the current study greatly advances and refines our current understanding of the regulatory networks associated with piglet muscle development and myofiber type transformation and also contributes to the optimization of piglet diet formulation.

Effects of sheep slaughter age on myogenic characteristics in skeletal muscle satellite cells

Objective

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of sheep slaughter age on myogenic characteristics in skeletal muscle satellite cells (SMSCs).

Methods

Primary SMSCs were isolated from hind leg biceps femoris muscles of Wurank lambs (slaughtered at three months, Mth-3) and adults (slaughtered at fifteen months, Mth-15). SMSCs were selected by morphological observation and fluorescence staining. Myogenic regulatory factors (MRF) and myosin heavy chain (MyHC) expressions of SMSCs were analyzed on days 1, 3, 4, and 5.

Results

The expressions of myogenic factor 5 (Myf5), myogenic differentiation (MyoD), Myf6, and myogenin (MyoG) in Mth-15 were significantly higher in Mth-15 than in Mth-3 on days 1, 3, and 4 (p<0.05). However, MyoG expression in Mth-15 was significantly lower than in Mth-3 on day 5 (p<0.05). The expressions of MyHC I, MyHC IIa, and MyHC IIx in Mth-15 were significantly higher than in Mth-3 on days 1 and 3 (p<0.05), and MyHC IIb were significantly lower than in Mth-3 on days 3 and 4 (p<0.05). In contrast, the expression of MyHC IIx in Mth-15 was significantly lower and MyHC IIb was significantly higher than in Mth-3 on days 5 (p<0.05).

Conclusion

The slaughter age altered the expression of MRFs and MyHCs in SMSCs while differentiation, which caused the variation of myogenic characteristics, and thus may affect the meat quality of Wurank sheep.

Puerarin improved growth performance and postmortem meat quality by regulating lipid metabolism of cattle under hot environment

This study aims to evaluate the effect of puerarin on performance, meat quality, and serum indexes of beef cattle under hot environment. Thirty-two bulls were divided into four groups and fed diet supplemented with puerarin at 0, 200, 400, or 800 mg/kg. Results showed that heat stress was employed for 54 out of 60 days, 400 mg/kg group declined serum cortisol (COR) contents, all treatments increased the contents of total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and total superoxide dismutase activity; in addition, glutathione peroxidase activity of 200 mg/kg group were enhanced, only 800 mg/kg group enhanced immunoglobulin (IgA, IgM, and IgG) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol contents compared with the control (p < .05). Moreover, 400-mg/kg puerarin increased serum growth hormone levels compared with 200 mg/kg group but declined COR concentrations compared with 200 mg/kg and 800 mg/kg groups (p < .05). More importantly, average daily gain and daily matter intake, and intramuscular fat contents of 400 mg/kg group were enhanced, but the shear force of beef in 400 mg/kg and 800 mg/kg groups were declined compared with the control (p < .05). These findings indicated that supplemental with puerarin enhanced immune and antioxidant, and 400 mg/kg of puerarin improved performance and meat quality by normalizing levels of stress hormones and increasing intramuscular fat deposition of beef cattle under hot environment.

Effects of coated cysteamine hydrochloride on muscle fiber characteristics and amino acid composition of finishing pigs

Objective

This experiment was designed to determine the effects of coated cysteamine hydrochloride (CC) on muscle fiber characteristics, amino acid composition and transporters gene expression in the longissimus dorsi muscle (LDM) of finishing pigs.

Methods

Two hundred and sixteen Duroc/Landrace/Yorkshire cross-bred male finishing pigs were fed with a corn-soybean basal diet supplemented with 0, 70, and 140 mg/kg cysteamine. Each group contained eight replicates of nine pigs per replicate. After 29 days, one pig was randomly selected from each replicate and slaughtered. Blood and LDM samples were collected and analyzed.

Results

The results showed that supplemental dietary CC increased (p<0.05) the muscle fiber density. And CC supplementation also up-regulated (p<0.05) the expression of myosin heavy chain 1 (MyHC1) and MyHC2x mRNA levels, and down-regulated (p<0.05) MyHC2b expression in the LDM. Additionally, supplemental dietary CC reduced (p<0.05) the concentration of total cholesterol in the plasma and enhanced (p<0.05) the concentrations of essential amino acid and total amino acid in the LDM. The relative expression levels of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase 2, b^0,+ amino acid transporter, and y⁺-L-type amino acid transporter 1 were up-regulated (p<0.05) in the LDM when pigs were fed with the dietary CC of 70 mg/kg.

Conclusion

Cysteamine supplementation could increase fiber density and distribution of fiber types. It also improved the deposition of protein in the LDM by up-regulated the expression of amino acid transporters.