Zinc Alters Ractopamine HCl Response in Cultured Skeletal Muscle Cells

The objective of this study was to determine if zinc, when added in combination with ractopamine hydrochloride (RH), would stabilize the interaction of RH with the β-adrenergic receptor, as indicated by altered cAMP concentrations, mRNA quantity, or protein abundance. Cultured bovine skeletal muscle cells were established and treated after 120 h for 6, 24, and 96 h with differentiation media of specific treatments. Treatments were applied in a factorial arrangement with two levels of zinc (0 μM or 1 μM) and two levels of RH (0 μM or 10 μM) in differentiation media. cAMP levels were measured at 6, 24, and 96 h, while mRNA and protein were measured at 24 and 96 h. At 6 h, no differences (P > 0.05) were detected in cAMP levels between the treatments. However, at 24 h the 10 μM RH, 1 μM zinc treatment had the greatest concentrations of cAMP (P < 0.05). At 96 h the 10 μM RH, 0 μM zinc treatment had a lower concentration of cAMP (P = 0.05) compared to the control. No differences were detected in mRNA (β1-adrenergic receptor, β2-adenergic receptor, AMPKα, myosin heavy chain I, myosin heavy chain IIA, and myosin heavy chain IIX) concentrations between treatments. Protein quantity of the β1-adrenergic receptor and β2-adrenergic receptor did not differ between treatments. These results indicate that zinc, in combination with RH, may help sustain the RH response during prolonged exposure as indicated by increased cAMP concentrations.

Growth performance,fatty acid profile,gut,and muscle histo-morphology of Malaysian mahseer,Tor tambroides post larvae fed short-term host associated probiotics

Host associated probiotics(HAPs)provide health benefits to the host when administered as dietary supplement.However,a short-term probiotics application strategy has yet to be optimized.A 90-days study was conducted to evaluate the response of Malaysian mahseer,Tor tambroides post larvae fed with basal diet enriched HAPs for 30-days,and its response following another 60-days feeding with only basal diet.Three experimental diets(Enterococcus faecalis strain 2674(T1),Aeromonas sp.strain A8-29(T2)and E.faecalis strain FC11682(T3))were prepared by spray-coating each HAPs on a basal diet at 1×108 CFU/g feed.Differences in growth performances,whole-body proximate and fatty acid composition,muscle morphometry,and gut morphology were evaluated.Results showed that after 30 days,T3 fish produced highest growth.All HAP treatment groups showed better muscle distribution profile,improved fatty acid composition,and higher villus length,width and area,than control group.After 90 days,the growth of T3 fish was still the highest.Muscle distribution profile and villus growth were higher in HAP treatments,although only total n-6 PUFA,total MUFA,linoleic acids,and linolenic acids in HAP treated fish remained high after probiotics withdrawal.No difference in whole-body proximate composition was observed in both 30 and 90 days.Collective findings demonstrated that short-term application of HAPs at an early stage could be used to boost T.tambroides growth,with E.faecalis strain FC11682 showing the best efficacy.

Ractopamine Hydrochloride and Estradiol + Trenbolone Acetate Implants Alter Myogenic mRNA, <i>β</i>-Adrenergic Receptors, and Blood Metabolites

Two commonly used growth promotants in the United States beef industry are β-agonists and anabolic steroid hormones. Each has been shown to increase lean muscle deposition in cattle provided treatments of each growth technology, but much is still unknown of how steroidal implants and β-agonists work in combination. It was our goal to determine the effect of implant strategy and β-agonist administration in beef feedlot heifers (n = 264). A 3 × 2 factorial randomized complete block design was used with 2 levels of OPT and 3 different durations of terminal implant (TI) windows for a total of 6 treatment groups with 9 replications. Terminal implants (20 mg estradiol/200 mg trenbolone acetate implant, Component TE-200) were provided to heifers 140 d from slaughter (TI140), 100 d from slaughter (TI100), or 60 d from slaughter (TI60). Animals receiving the later two TI being first implanted on day 0 (8 mg estradiol/80 mg trenbolone acetate implant, Component TE-IH). The second treatment of the cattle received was the orally active beta adrenergic agonist, ractopamine-hydrochloride (RH) in the form of Optaflexx®(OPT;0 (NO) or 200 (YES) mg/hd·d-1) over the final 28 days of the trial. Thirty animals were subjected to longissimus muscle (LM) biopsies on d 0, 40, 80, 112, and at slaughter on d 140 to view mRNA levels of myogenic related genes and protein quantities of the β1-adrenergic receptor (β1 AR) and β2-adrenergic receptor (β2 AR). On the same days, blood samples were taken from 108 animals to assess changes in plasma blood urea nitrogen (BUN), non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and progesterone due to treatments. Relative mRNA levels of myosin heavy chain IIX (MHC IIX), AMPKα, and IGF-I were increased (P < 0.05) in animals receiving a TI100 over the other two implant dates after OPT was fed to animals. After OPT administration myosin heavy chain IIA (MHC IIA) mRNA levels tended to decrease (P = 0.09) due to OPT. An interaction between TI d and OPT administration caused an increase (P < 0.05) in MHC IIA mRNA level in the TI60/Yes treatment group over all other treatments except the TI100/No treatment group. Protein intensity of the β2 AR was decreased (P < 0.05) by the latest TI d (TI60) during OPT feeding, while β1 AR protein intensity tended to be lower (P < 0.10) in animals fed OPT. Plasma BUN levels were reduced (P < 0.05) after terminal implants and OPT feeding;while progesterone was decreased (P < 0.05) by OPT alone. Neither growth promotant affected NEFA levels in plasma. Collectively, these data indicate that ractopamine hydrochloride and estradiol + trenbolone acetate implants alter myogenic mRNA, β-adrenergic receptors, and blood metabolites in finishing beef heifers.

Physiological Responses to Agonist-Antagonist Superset Resistance Training

Purpose To investigate the physiological responses to low-load,superset resistance training(two exercises for the agonist and antagonist muscles performed without rest between exercises)to failure using elastic bands.Methods Twenty-three athletes were randomized to either a superset group(S,n=12,average age:19.8±1.5 years)or a traditional set group(T,n=11,average age:20.1±1.4 years).Strength,cross-sectional area(CSA)and muscular endurance of the biceps and triceps brachii were assessed before and after 8 weeks.Acute responses(muscle thickness)were measured during one testing session.Results Muscle thickness of the biceps significantly increased in both T group(P<0.05)and S group(P<0.05)after a single bout of Training.The triceps did not show significant increases in either T group(P>0.05)or S group(P>0.05).Blood lactate also increased in both groups after one bout of training(T:from 1.3±0.3 to 5.5±2.4 mmol/L,S:from 1.4±0.5 to 5.1±1.5 mmol/L,P<0.05).After 8-week training,both groups showed significant increases in the biceps(T:13.2%±5.0%;S:12.9%±7.3%,P<0.05)and triceps(T:9.5%±9.3%,S:4.8%±4.1%,P<0.05)without differences between groups.Increases in one repetition maximum for the bench press(7.8%±6.5%,P<0.05)and maximal voluntary contraction for the arm extensors(9.3%±11.6%,P<0.05)were observed for the T group only.Increases in muscular endurance were observed only in the S group for the bench press(26.0%±19.1%,P<0.05)and the barbell curl(17.2%±16.6%,P<0.05).Conclusions Superset training may enhance muscular endurance while attenuating maximal strength gains.There does not appear to be a hypertrophic benefit to performing superset training,but it may provide a time-efficient strategy to achieve adaptations in muscle mass.