• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.310-322
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• 2024

Background: Osteosarcopenia is a common condition characterized by the loss of both bone and muscle mass, which can lead to an increased risk of fractures and disability in older adults. The study aimed to elucidate the response of various mouse strains to treatment with Rg3, one of the leading ginsenosides, on musculoskeletal traits and immune function, and their correlation. Methods: Six Collaborative Cross (CC) founder strains induced muscle atrophy and bone loss with dexamethasone (15 mg/kg) treatment for 1 month, and half of the mice for each strain were orally administered Rg3 (20 mg/kg). Different responses were observed depending on genetic background and Rg3 treatment. Results: Rg3 significantly increased grip strength, running performance, and expression of muscle and bone health-related genes in a two-way analysis of variance considering the genetic backgrounds and Rg3 treatment. Significant improvements in grip strength, running performance, bone area, and muscle mass, and the increased gene expression were observed in specific strains of PWK/PhJ. For traits related to muscle, bone, and immune functions, significant correlations between traits were confirmed following Rg3 administration compared with control mice. The phenotyping analysis was compiled into a public web resource called Rg3-OsteoSarco. Conclusion: This highlights the complex interplay between genetic determinants, pathogenesis of muscle atrophy and bone loss, and phytochemical bioactivity and the need to move away from single inbred mouse models to improve their translatability to genetically diverse humans. Rg3-OsteoSarco highlights the use of CC founder strains as a valuable tool in the field of personalized nutrition.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.311-317
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• 2015

Phenotypic characterization and body biometric in 13 traits (height at withers, body length, chest girth, paunch girth, ear length, tail length, length of tail up to switch, face length, face width, horn length, circumference of horn at base, distances between pin bone and hip bone) were recorded in 233 adult Gojri buffaloes from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh states of India. Traits were analysed by using varimax rotated principal component analysis (PCA) with Kaiser Normalization to explain body conformation. PCA revealed four components which explained about 70.9% of the total variation. First component described the general body conformation and explained 31.5% of total variation. It was represented by significant positive high loading of height at wither, body length, heart girth, face length and face width. The communality ranged from 0.83 (hip bone distance) to 0.45 (horn length) and unique factors ranged from 0.16 to 0.55 for all these 13 different biometric traits. Present study suggests that first principal component can be used in the evaluation and comparison of body conformation in buffaloes and thus provides an opportunity to distinguish between early and late maturing to adult, based on a small group of biometric traits to explain body conformation in adult buffaloes.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.1066-1073
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• 2017

Objective: Growth-related traits are important economic traits in the swine industry. However, the genetic mechanism of growth-related traits is little known. The aim of this study was to screen the candidate genes and molecular markers associated with body dimension and body weight traits in pigs. Methods: A genome-wide association study (GWAS) on body dimension and body weight traits was performed in a White $Duroc{\times}Erhualian$ $F_2$ intercross by the illumina PorcineSNP60K Beadchip. A mixed linear model was used to assess the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the phenotypes. Results: In total, 611 and 79 SNPs were identified significantly associated with body dimension traits and body weight respectively. All SNPs but 62 were located into 23 genomic regions (quantitative trait loci, QTLs) on 14 autosomal and X chromosomes in Sus scrofa Build 10.2 assembly. Out of the 23 QTLs with the suggestive significance level ($5{\times}10^{-4}$), three QTLs exceeded the genome-wide significance threshold ($1.15{\times}10^{-6}$). Except the one on Sus scrofa chromosome (SSC) 7 which was reported previously all the QTLs are novel. In addition, we identified 5 promising candidate genes, including cell division cycle 7 for abdominal circumference, pleiomorphic adenoma gene 1 and neuropeptides B/W receptor 1 for both body weight and cannon bone circumference on SSC4, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1, and bone morphogenetic protein 7 for hip circumference on SSC17. Conclusion: The results have not only demonstrated a number of potential genes/loci associated with the growth-related traits in pigs, but also laid a foundation for studying the genes' role and further identifying causative variants underlying these loci.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.244-253
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• 2012

Bone mineral density (BMD) is used in the clinical diagnosis of osteoporosis and the assessment of fracture risk. Osteoporosis, characterized mainly by decreased BMD, is a highly heritable complex disorder and a major public health concern to hundreds of millions of elderly persons worldwide. However, the specific genetic variants determining risk for low bone density are still largely unknown. Here, we performed association analysis to elucidate the possible relations of genetic polymorphisms in ESR1 gene with low bone density. By examining genotype data of a total of 1813 women in the Korean Association REsource (KARE) study, we discovered the ESR1 gene polymorphisms are associated with decreased BMD and osteoporosis. The results on the BD-RT (bone density estimated by T-score at distal radius), three SNPs (rs2248586, rs9371557, and rs1569788) within the ESR1 gene were significantly associated with bone density. The results on the BD-TT (bone density estimated by T-score at midshaft tibia), five SNPs (rs9371552, rs2248586, rs712221, rs7772475, and rs3798577) were significantly associated with bone density. The SNP rs2248586 within the ESR1 gene had commonly significance in both BD-RT (${\beta}$=-0.151, dominant P=0.049) and BD-TT (${\beta}$=-0.156, dominant P=0.039). In the SNP rs2248586, their ${\beta}$-values in BD-RT and/or BD-TT showed consistent trends with the odds ratios (ORs) of osteoporosis. In summary, we found statistically significant SNPs in ESR1 gene that are associated with both decreased BMD and osteoporosis traits. Therefore, our findings suggest ESR1 gene could be related to pathogenesis of osteoporosis.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.517-526
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• 2022

Objective: The growth differentiation factor 8 (GDF8) gene plays a key role in bone formation, resorption, and skeletal muscle development in mammals. Here, we studied the genetic variants of GDF8 and their contribution to body conformation traits in Chinese Dabieshan cattle. Methods: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified in the bovine GDF8 gene by DNA sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis, motif analysis, and genetic diversity analysis were conducted using bioinformatics software. Association analysis between five SNPs, haplotype combinations, and body conformation traits was conducted in 380 individuals. Results: The GDF8 was highly conserved in seven species, and the GDF8 sequence of cattle was most similar to the sequences of sheep and goat based on the phylogenetic analysis. The motif analysis showed that there were 12 significant motifs in GDF8. Genetic diversity analysis indicated that the polymorphism information content of the five studied SNPs was within 0.25 to 0.5. Haplotype analysis revealed a total of 12 different haplotypes and those with a frequency of <0.05 were excluded. Linkage disequilibrium analysis showed a strong linkage (r²>0.330) between the following SNPs: g.5070C>A, g.5076T>C, and g.5148A>C. Association analysis indicated these five SNPs were associated with some of the body conformation traits (p<0.05), and the animals with haplotype combination H1H1 (-GGGG CCTTAA-) had greater wither height, hip height, heart girth, abdominal girth, and pin bone width than the other (p<0.05) Dabieshan cattle. Conclusion: Overall, our results indicate that the genetic variants of GDF8 affected the body conformation traits of Chinese Dabieshan cattle, and the GDF8 gene could make a strong candidate gene in Dabieshan cattle breeding programs.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.555-566
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• 2024

Objective: This study aimed to assess the genetic parameters and accuracy of genomic predictions for twenty-four linear body conformation traits and overall conformation scores in Korean Holstein dairy cows. Methods: A dataset of 2,206 Korean Holsteins was collected, and genotyping was performed using the Illumina Bovine 50K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip. The traits investigated included body traits (stature, height at front end, chest width, body depth, angularity, body condition score, and locomotion), rump traits (rump angle, rump width, and loin strength), feet and leg traits (rear leg set, rear leg rear view, foot angle, heel depth, and bone quality), udder traits (udder depth, udder texture, udder support, fore udder attachment, front teat placement, front teat length, rear udder height, rear udder width, and rear teat placement), and overall conformation score. Accuracy of genomic predictions was assessed using the single-trait animal model genomic best linear unbiased prediction method implemented in the ASReml-SA v4.2 software. Results: Heritability estimates ranged from 0.10 to 0.50 for body traits, 0.21 to 0.35 for rump traits, 0.13 to 0.29 for feet and leg traits, and 0.05 to 0.46 for udder traits. Rump traits exhibited the highest average heritability (0.29), while feet and leg traits had the lowest estimates (0.21). Accuracy of genomic predictions varied among the twenty-four linear body conformation traits, ranging from 0.26 to 0.49. The heritability and prediction accuracy of genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV) for the overall conformation score were 0.45 and 0.46, respectively. The GEBVs for body conformation traits in Korean Holstein cows had low accuracy, falling below the 50% threshold. Conclusion: The limited response to selection for body conformation traits in Korean Holsteins may be attributed to both the low heritability of these traits and the lower accuracy estimates for GEBVs. Further research is needed to enhance the accuracy of GEBVs and improve the selection response for these traits.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.50-56
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• 2003

An experiment was carried out to compare the body weight, shank length, rectal temperature, comb area, abdominal fat, blood parameters and bone traits of capon, slip and intact birds in Taiwan country chicken cockerels. One hundred and sixty-six Taiwan country chicken cockerels were randomly assigned to caponized or intact male groups. Caponized birds were surgically altered at 10 weeks old and raised to 28 weeks old. At 28 weeks of age, the capons were separated into capon and slip groups, depending on the atrophy of the comb and wattle in size. The results showed that body weight and shank length in slips were significantly (p<0.05) greater than in intact birds. Intact birds had the highest (p<0.05）feather scores and the lowest (p<0.05) rectal temperature. Compared with intact birds and slips, capons had a significantly (p<0.05) smaller comb area. Bone percentage, stress and cortical thickness, and bone and ash calcium content and plasma testosterone concentration, in intact birds were the highest (p<0.05) followed by slips and capons. However, intact birds had the lowest (p<0.05) plasma ionized calcium and phosphorus concentrations. Bone and ash manganese contents in capons were significantly (p<0.05)lower than those in others. These findings support the hypothesis that androgenic effects on secondary sexual characteristics are stronger than anabolic growth promoting response. Androgens can directly influence calcium fluxes in male chickens. Caponized caused a reduction in the bone percentage, stress, cortical thickness and bone calcium content.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.1490-1495
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• 2007

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-4 (IGFBP-4) is a member of the IGF super family, and regulates the action of IGFs. The polymorphism of porcine IGFBP-4 gene in 17 pig breeds (total n = 570) was detected by PCR-SSCP, and alleles A and B were detected. In these pig breeds, it was found that exotic pig breeds carried high frequencies of allele A, while Chinese native pig breeds carried high frequencies of allele B. The role of porcine IGFBP-4 was investigated in 172 F2 offspring of a $Lantang{\times}Lantang $ population. Forty eight growth traits were recorded for analyzing the association between IGFBP-4 gene polymorphism and quantitative performance traits. In this resource family, pigs with AA genotype had higher fore-body weight, bone weight of mid-body, bone weight of rear-body, fore-leg weight and rear-leg weight than those pigs with BB genotype (p<0.05); while pigs which carried BB genotype had higher back-fat thickness at C point and lard weight than those pigs with AA genotype (p<0.05); pigs with AA genotype had higher body weight than those with BB genotype; for meat quality traits, pigs with AA genotype had higher meat color than those of BB genotype (p<0.01), and pigs with BB genotype had higher marbling than those of AA and AB genotypes (p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively).Based on these results, it is necessary to do more studies on IGFBP-4 before using the IGFBP-4 locus for the application of marker-assisted selection programs.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.740-750
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• 2021

This study was performed to investigate genetic relationship of age at first calving (AFC) with body development and reproduction capacity in female Hanwoo. The data sets of 52,299 reproduction records of 19,566 heads calved from 2011 to 2019 and conformation records of 19565 heads born from 1997 to 2017 were analyzed by separating them based on age at first calving. In the analysis, conformation traits included the body condition score (BCS), height (HT), body width (BW), hip bone length (HL), hip bone width (HW), and final score (FS). The heritability and genetic correlation of AFC with conformation traits and calving interval (CI) were analyzed. The heritability for AFC was 0.716, 0.087, and 0.097 for the before and after 24 months and combined data, respectively. The genetic correlation of AFC before 24 months with BCS was -0.778, -0.600 with BW, and 0.442 with HT. The genetic correlation of AFC after 24 months with HT was -0.826, -0.706 with BW, -0.623 with HL, -0.456 with HW, and -0.675 with FS. When the first calving age of young heifers approached 24 months, BCS and BW decreased, and HT increased. When first calving is delayed to after 24 months, the conformation traits become smaller, which indicates that conformation to some extent affects the delay in AFC. The genetic correlation between CI and AFC was -0.116, 0.307, and 0.250 for the before and after 24 month of AFC and combined data, respectively. When first calving date approached 24 months, CI was reduced. The obtained results suggest that it is important that first calving occurs at an appropriate age. Additional research is needed to perform proper genetic evaluation of first calving age in Hanwoo cattle in Korea.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.463-469
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• 1998

Factor analysis was applied as a multivariate statistical technique to official genetic evaluations of type classification traits for 1,265,785 Holstein cows and 10,321 sires computed from data collected between August 1982 and June 1994 in Canada. Type traits included eighteen linear descriptive traits and eight major score card traits. Principal components of the factor analysis showed that only five factors explain the information of the genetic value of linear descriptive traits for both cows and sires. Factor 1 included traits related to mammary system, like texture, median suspensory, fore attachment, fore teat placement and rear attachment height and width. Factor 2 described stature, size, chest width and pin width. These two factors had a similar pattern for both cows and sires. In constrast, Factor 3 for cows involved only bone-quality, while in addition for sires, Factor 3 included foot angle, rear legs desirability and legs set. Factor 4 for cows related to foot angle, set of rear leg and leg desirability, while Factor 4 related to loin strenth and pin setting for sires. Finally, Factor 5 included loin strength and pin setting for cows and described only pin setting for sires. Two factors only were required to describe score card traits of cows and sires. Factor 1 related to final score, feet and legs, udder traits, mammary system and dairy character, while frame/capacity and rump were described by Factor 2. Communality estimates which determine the proportion of variance of a type trait that is shared with other type traits via the common factor variant were high, the highest ${\geq}$ 80% for final score, stature, size and chest width. Pin width and pin desirability had the lowest communality, 56% and 37%. Results indicated shifts in emphasis over the twelve-year period away from udder traits and dairy character, and towards size, scale and width traits. A new system that computes fmal score from type components has been initiated.