Animal Science Abstract
The relationships between leptin and vitamin A levels in plasma of fattening cattle supplemented with vitamin A
T. Tokuda1, S. Kono2 and T. Fujihara3,A
ACorresponding author. E-mail address: fujihara@life.shimane-u.ac.jp
1United Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tottori University, Tottori-shi 680-8553, Japan2Hiroshima Prefectural Livestock Technology Research Center, Shobara-shi 727-0023, Japan
3Laboratory of Animal Science, Faculty of Life and Environmental Science, Shimane University, Matsue-shi, 690-8504, Japan
Abstract
The objective of this study was to examine the effect of dietary vitamin A (retinol) on leptin in cattle. The relationship between plasma leptin and insulin was also examined. The experiment studies 16 9-month-old steers over the following 20-month fattening period. Four treatment diets were given to four steers in each of four groups. Cattle in treatment A were given a diet high in vitamin A (9000 to 10500 µg/day) throughout the experiment. Cattle in treatment B were given a diet low in vitamin A (300 to 4500 µg/day) for 0 to 10 months, after that they were given the high vitamin A diet during the period 10 to 20 months. Cattle in treatment C were given the low vitamin A diet for 0 to 14 months, after that they were given the high vitamin A diet for the period 14 to 20 months. Cattle in treatment D were given the low vitamin A diet throughout the experiment. Plasma samples were collected at 2-month intervals during the experiment to determine the plasma leptin, insulin and vitamin A concentrations. Plasma leptin concentration significantly increased over the fattening period (P < 0•001) but did not differ between the treatments (P > 0•05). Plasma leptin concentration was positively correlated with insulin concentration (r = 0•44, P < 0•001), although it was not correlated with plasma vitamin A concentration (r = -0•01, P > 0•05). It was concluded that dietary vitamin A in cattle does not affect plasma leptin concentration.
Keywords: cattle, insulin, leptin, retinol
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