• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.1178-1187
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• 2000

Many immunostimulating substances have been developed to improve immunity of domestic animals, although their exact mode of action and effects are not clearly defined, and they are now widely used in feed industry. Bacterial lipopolysaccharides, called endotoxin, in particular may have a profound effect not only on the immune system but also on macrophages of the reticuloendothelial system. Glucans from a variety of yeast cell wall have been shown to stimulate both specific and non-specific immune responses and to increase growth performance in pigs. Recently, there has been great interest in the role of complex carbohydrates in disease prevention and treatment. Mannanoligosaccharide is a glucomannoprotein complex derived from the cell wall of yeast. Generally, it was also known that the deficiencies of some major vitamins (vitamin A, E and C) and minerals (chromium and selenium) lead to impaired immune system and, as a result, immune function is depressed and recovery delayed. On the other hand, many researchers suggested that one possible reason for the superior performance observed in pigs fed plasma protein may be because of the presence of biologically active plasma proteins (e.g., immunoglobulins) which are known to contribute to the health of the starter pig. And, immunoglobulins present in plasma protein have been implicated as contributing to the overall immunocompetence of the newborn pig. Other immunostimulants, lactoferrin and lysozyme, mainly found in milk and egg white, have been known as having bacteriocidal and bacteriolytic effect. When considering practical use of immunostimulants, the concept of using immunostimulants is new to many people and, in most cases, it is poorly understood how and why such compounds act, and how they should be used in practice. Therefore, in order to clarify the reason for discrepancies in results, special attention should be paid to the dose/response relationship of immunostimulants and the duration of the effect.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.671-676
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• 2008

Forty-eight Naemi lambs (avg. BW 31.7 kg) were transported by truck for a distance of 1,450 km from Al-Jouf to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. On arrival day, the lambs were randomly allocated to four groups receiving diets supplemented with 0.0, 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 ppm organic chromium (Cr). Each group consisted of four separately housed replicates of three lambs each. The animals were fed ad libitum on a grower diet for 84 days. Blood samples were obtained shortly before transportation, upon arrival and at weekly intervals thereafter from all lambs for analysis of plasma and serum. Plasma glucose and serum cortisol, total protein, albumin, urea-N and total cholesterol concentrations were determined. A cursory clinical examination of the lambs, along with rectal temperature, was undertaken at different intervals during the experiment. The lambs were inoculated each with 2 ml i.v. chicken red blood cells (CRBC) on days 0, 21, and 42. Serum total, IgG and IgM antibody titers were determined at weekly intervals post-immunization. An in vivo intradermal hypersensitivity test was carried out on 6 lambs from each group on days 10 and 70. Transportation of the lambs resulted in a significant (p<0.001) elevation of serum cortisol, total protein and albumin levels, as well as increased plasma glucose concentration, with corresponding decrease in total cholesterol, while blood urea-N remained largely unchanged. These constituents returned to normal levels during subsequent weeks, with no significant differences in their concentrations being observed between the Cr-supplemented groups and controls. Rise in rectal temperature after transportation was reduced to a greater extent (p<0.05) in Cr-supplemented versus control lambs. Total, IgG and IgM antibody titers against CRBC rose significantly (p<0.05) during immunizations in all groups, with significantly and linearly higher (p<0.05) total and IgG titers in Cr-supplemented versus control lambs. By contrast, no significant effect due to Cr supplementation was recorded in IgG titers, which increased equally in Cr-fed and control groups. Skin thickness in response to intradermal inoculation of phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) was also significantly (p<0.01) increased as a result of Cr supplementation. These results indicate that dietary Cr supplementation might be useful during stress especially for enhancing immune responses in transport-stressed lambs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.677-684
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• 2008

Accurate estimation of dry matter intake (DMI) is a prerequisite to meet animal performance targets without penalizing animal health and the environment. The objective of the current study was to evaluate some of the existing models in order to predict DMI when lactating dairy cows were offered a total mixed ration containing a high level of concentrates and locally produced agricultural by-products. Six popular models were chosen for DMI prediction (Brown et al., 1977; Rayburn and Fox, 1993; Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Research Council Secretariat, 1999; National Research Council (NRC), 2001; Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS), Fox et al., 2003; Fuentes-Pila et al., 2003). Databases for DMI comparison were constructed from two different sources: i) 12 commercial farm investigations and ii) a controlled dairy cow experiment. The model evaluation was performed using two different methods: i) linear regression analysis and ii) mean square error prediction analysis. In the commercial farm investigation, DMI predicted by Fuentes-Pila et al. (2003) was the most accurate when compared with the actual mean DMI, whilst the CNCPS prediction showed larger mean bias (difference between mean predicted and mean observed values). Similar results were observed in the controlled dairy cow experiment where the mean bias by Fuentes-Pila et al. (2003) was the smallest of all six chosen models. The more accurate prediction by Fuentes-Pila et al. (2003) could be attributed to the inclusion of dietary factors, particularly fiber as these factors were not considered in some models (i.e. NRC, 2001; CNCPS (Fox et al., 2003)). Linear regression analysis had little meaningful biological significance when evaluating models for prediction of DMI in this study. Further research is required to improve the accuracy of the models, and may recommend more mechanistic approaches to investigate feedstuffs (common to the Asian region), animal genotype, environmental conditions and their interaction, as the majority of the models employed are based on empirical approaches.