Cadaveric Prosections Prepared by Qualified Instructional Staff Were More Efficient and Effective Teaching Modalities for Veterinary Gross Anatomy than In-Class Dissections by Students.

Veterinary programs traditionally teach gross anatomy by having students perform regional dissections on animal cadavers. Dissection is effective but also costly, time consuming, and intimidating for students. These factors, along with reduced contact hours devoted to gross anatomy, warrant investigation of more time-efficient teaching modalities.

Daily Eicosapentaenoic Acid Infusion in IUGR Fetal Lambs Reduced Systemic Inflammation, Increased Muscle ADRβ2 Content, and Improved Myoblast Function and Muscle Growth.

Intrauterine growth-restricted (IUGR) fetuses exhibit systemic inflammation that contributes to programmed deficits in myoblast function and muscle growth. Thus, we sought to determine if targeting fetal inflammation improves muscle growth outcomes. Heat stress-induced IUGR fetal lambs were infused with eicosapentaenoic acid (IUGR+EPA; = 9) or saline (IUGR; = 8) for 5 days during late gestation and compared to saline-infused controls ( = 11).

Daily Injection of the β2 Adrenergic Agonist Clenbuterol Improved Muscle Glucose Metabolism, Glucose-Stimulated Insulin Secretion, and Hyperlipidemia in Juvenile Lambs Following Heat-Stress-Induced Intrauterine Growth Restriction.

Stress-induced fetal programming diminishes β2 adrenergic tone, which coincides with intrauterine growth restriction () and lifelong metabolic dysfunction. We determined if stimulating β2 adrenergic activity in IUGR-born lambs would improve metabolic outcomes. IUGR lambs that received daily injections of saline or the β2 agonist clenbuterol from birth to 60 days were compared with controls from pair-fed thermoneutral pregnancies.

Daily injection of the β2 adrenergic agonist clenbuterol improved poor muscle growth and body composition in lambs following heat stress-induced intrauterine growth restriction.

Intrauterine growth restriction () is associated with reduced β2 adrenergic sensitivity, which contributes to poor postnatal muscle growth. The objective of this study was to determine if stimulating β2 adrenergic activity postnatal would rescue deficits in muscle growth, body composition, and indicators of metabolic homeostasis in IUGR offspring. Time-mated ewes were housed at 40°C from day 40 to 95 of gestation to produce IUGR lambs.

Dousing the flame: reviewing the mechanisms of inflammatory programming during stress-induced intrauterine growth restriction and the potential for ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intervention.

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) arises when maternal stressors coincide with peak placental development, leading to placental insufficiency. When the expanding nutrient demands of the growing fetus subsequently exceed the capacity of the stunted placenta, fetal hypoxemia and hypoglycemia result. Poor fetal nutrient status stimulates greater release of inflammatory cytokines and catecholamines, which in turn lead to thrifty growth and metabolic programming that benefits fetal survival but is maladaptive after birth.

Primary myoblasts from intrauterine growth-restricted fetal sheep exhibit intrinsic dysfunction of proliferation and differentiation that coincides with enrichment of inflammatory cytokine signaling pathways.

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is linked to lifelong reductions in muscle mass due to intrinsic functional deficits in myoblasts, but the mechanisms underlying these deficits are not known. Our objective was to determine if the deficits were associated with changes in inflammatory and adrenergic regulation of IUGR myoblasts, as was previously observed in IUGR muscle. Primary myoblasts were isolated from IUGR fetal sheep produced by hyperthermia-induced placental insufficiency (PI-IUGR; n = 9) and their controls (n = 9) and from IUGR fetal sheep produced by maternofetal inflammation (MI-IUGR; n = 6) and their controls (n = 7).

Short Communication: Beta-adrenergic agonists alter oxidative phosphorylation in primary myoblasts.

Beta-adrenergic agonists (β-AAs) are widely used supplements in beef and pork production to improve feed efficiency and increase lean muscle mass, yet little is known about the molecular mechanism by which β-AAs achieve this outcome. Our objective was to identify the influence of ractopamine HCl and zilpaterol HCl on mitochondrial respiratory activity in muscle satellite cells isolated from crossbred beef steers (N = 5), crossbred barrows (N = 2), Yorkshire-cross gilts (N = 3), and commercial weather lambs (N = 5). Real-time measurements of oxygen consumption rates (OCRs) were recorded using extracellular flux analyses with a Seahorse XFe24 analyzer.

Transcriptome analyses indicate that heat stress-induced inflammation in white adipose tissue and oxidative stress in skeletal muscle is partially moderated by zilpaterol supplementation in beef cattle.

Heat stress (HS) triggers oxidative stress, systemic inflammation, and disrupts growth efficiency of livestock. β-adrenergic agonists supplemented to ruminant livestock improve growth performance, increase skeletal muscle mass, and decrease carcass fat. The objective of this study was to understand the independent and interacting effects of HS and zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZH) supplementation on the transcriptome of subcutaneous white adipose tissue and the longissimus dorsi muscle in steers.

The Price of Surviving on Adrenaline: Developmental Programming Responses to Chronic Fetal Hypercatecholaminemia Contribute to Poor Muscle Growth Capacity and Metabolic Dysfunction in IUGR-Born Offspring.

Maternofetal stress induces fetal programming that restricts skeletal muscle growth capacity and metabolic function, resulting in intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) of the fetus. This thrifty phenotype aids fetal survival but also yields reduced muscle mass and metabolic dysfunction after birth. Consequently, IUGR-born individuals are at greater lifelong risk for metabolic disorders that reduce quality of life.

Inflammatory Mediation of Heat Stress-Induced Growth Deficits in Livestock and Its Potential Role as a Target for Nutritional Interventions: A Review.

Heat stress is detrimental to well-being and growth performance in livestock, and systemic inflammation arising during chronic heat stress contributes to these poor outcomes. Sustained exposure of muscle and other tissues to inflammation can impair the cellular processes that facilitate muscle growth and intramuscular fat deposition, thus reducing carcass quality and yield. Climate change is expected to produce more frequent extreme heat events, increasing the potential impact of heat stress on sustainable livestock production.

Intermittent maternofetal oxygenation during late gestation improved birthweight, neonatal growth, body symmetry, and muscle metabolism in intrauterine growth-restricted lambs.

In humans and animals, intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) results from fetal programming responses to poor intrauterine conditions. Chronic fetal hypoxemia elevates circulating catecholamines, which reduces skeletal muscle β2 adrenoceptor content and contributes to growth and metabolic pathologies in IUGR-born offspring. Our objective was to determine whether intermittent maternofetal oxygenation during late gestation would improve neonatal growth and glucose metabolism in IUGR-born lambs.

Going Up Inflame: Reviewing the Underexplored Role of Inflammatory Programming in Stress-Induced Intrauterine Growth Restricted Livestock.

The impact of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) on health in humans is well-recognized. It is the second leading cause of perinatal mortality worldwide, and it is associated with deficits in metabolism and muscle growth that increase lifelong risk for hypertension, obesity, hyperlipidemia, and type 2 diabetes. Comparatively, the barrier that IUGR imposes on livestock production is less recognized by the industry.

Homework questions designed to require higher-order cognitive skills in an undergraduate animal physiology course did not produce desirable difficulties, testing effects, or improvements in information retention.

Studies show that retrieval practices such as homework assignments that are completed during the encoding phase of learning benefit knowledge acquisition and retention. In addition, desirable difficulties, which are strategies that intentionally create a greater challenge during initial learning to enhance encoding and retrieval pathways, also benefit learning long term. Our objective was to determine whether weekly homework questions intended to create desirable difficulties by requiring higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) benefited students' long-term retention of physiology concepts compared to questions designed to require lower-order cognitive skills (LOCS).

Sustained heat stress elevated corneal and body surface temperatures and altered circulating leukocytes and metabolic indicators in wether lambs supplemented with ractopamine or zilpaterol.

Understanding how β adrenergic agonists influence the physiology of heat stress could lead to mitigation options. We sought to investigate body surface temperatures in feedlot wethers supplemented with ractopamine or zilpaterol and exposed to heat stress for 18 d. Corneal and skin temperatures were assessed via infrared thermography at 1- and 2-m distances.

Lipopolysaccharide endotoxin injections elevated salivary TNFα and corneal temperatures and induced dynamic changes in circulating leukocytes, inflammatory cytokines, and metabolic indicators in wether lambs.

Pathogenic infections increase morbidity and reduce performance in livestock, and thus understanding the comprehensive physiological changes associated with infections can benefit production sustainability. In this study, we sought to investigate such physiological responses to an acute immune challenge in lambs. Polypay wethers received single IV injections of 1.

Maternofetal inflammation induced for 2 wk in late gestation reduced birth weight and impaired neonatal growth and skeletal muscle glucose metabolism in lambs.

Intrauterine stress impairs growth and metabolism in the fetus and offspring. We recently found that sustained maternofetal inflammation resulted in intrauterine growth-restricted (MI-IUGR) fetuses with asymmetric body composition, impaired muscle glucose metabolism, and β-cell dysfunction near term. These fetuses also exhibited heightened inflammatory tone, which we postulated was a fetal programming mechanism for the IUGR phenotype.

Heat stress-induced deficits in growth, metabolic efficiency, and cardiovascular function coincided with chronic systemic inflammation and hypercatecholaminemia in ractopamine-supplemented feedlot lambs.

Heat stress hinders growth and well-being in livestock, an effect that is perhaps exacerbated by the β1 agonist ractopamine. Heat stress deficits are mediated in part by reduced feed intake, but other mechanisms involved are less understood. Our objective was to determine the direct impact of heat stress on growth and well-being in ractopamine-supplemented feedlot lambs.