Use of a commercial feed supplement based on yeast products and microalgae with or without nucleotide addition in calves.

The use of feed additives with antioxidant and immune response modulatory activity could be a useful strategy in suckling calves to reduce morbidity and mortality. This strategy is based on several feed additives tested for these purposes. The aim of the paper is the examination of a commercial feed additive for adult cows for use in calves, with and without nucleotide supplementation. Seventy-five Holstein Friesian male calves were divided in 3 groups, with each calf randomly assigned to a group according to birth order. All calves received 2 L of pooled colostrum within 2 h of birth. The commercial feed supplement group was orally administered with 5 g/head of Decosel (dried brewer's yeast lysate (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), brewer's yeast walls (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), diatoms, spirulina, barley flour, calcium carbonate; Agroteam srl, Torrimpietra, Italy) and the nucleotides + commercial feed supplement group was orally administered with 5 g/head of an additive containing 2.5 g of Decosel and 2.5 g of nucleotides once daily from birth to 25 d. The control group was orally administered 20 mL of fresh water/head once daily. Calves that received the supplement and the nucleotides showed lower rates of protein and metabolizable energy conversion, with longer villi and greater crypt depth in duodenum. Moreover, the commercial feed supplement alone increased antioxidant capacity [2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) and ferric-reducing antioxidant power] in plasma some activity of antioxidant liver enzymes, and peripheral blood mononuclear cell viability after in vitro concanavalin A and H2O2 stimuli. Dietary supplementation with a commercial feed supplement containing yeast products (yeast cell walls and hydrolyzed yeast) and microalgae enhanced the redox balance and gut morphology in calves, allowing calves to improve their immune response, increasing resistance to stress. Moreover, these beneficial effects were strongly potentiated when dietary nucleotides were added to the supplement.

An extra-virgin olive oil rich in polyphenolic compounds has antioxidant effects in meat-type broiler chickens.

The aim of this study was to extend the knowledge on the antioxidant effect of extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) in the liver of broiler chickens not subjected to any form of insult. A total of 120 male broiler chickens (Hubbard strain) were divided into three groups and fed ad libitum with three isoenergetic diets from hatching until slaughter age (49 days) on a completely randomized design. The dietary treatments consisted of 2.5% added oil or fat from three sources as follows: diet containing sunflower oil (SFO); diet containing lard (LRD), and diet containing extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO). The activity of the main antioxidative enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GS-Px) and glutathione S-transferase (GST), and lipid peroxidation as thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) content, was measured in the liver of chickens. The susceptibility to undergo lipid peroxidation was assessed by exposing liver homogenate to 30 °C or to an ascorbate/iron mixture as pro-oxidant system. Dietary oil or fat type improved significantly (P < 0.05) the body weight and gain as well as feed efficiency in birds fed EVOO compared to those fed with the other treatments. Supplementing EVOO in the diet significantly (P < 0.05) reduced lipid peroxidation by increasing antioxidant defense system. These findings, besides adding more results on the antioxidant effect of extra-virgin olive oil on liver of other experimental model other than rats and humans, could be significant for animal welfare, with consequent benefits for both producers and consumers.

Effects of dietary yeast Saccaromyces cerevisiae on the antioxidant system in the liver of juvenile sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax.

The main goal of this work was to determine the effect of dietary live yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the oxidative status of sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax juveniles. Fishes were fed on three diets: the GM group were fed a diet containing lyophilized yeast grown on grape must, the CS group were fed a diet containing lyophilized yeast grown on cornstarch, and the control group were fed a diet without yeast. The activity of the main antioxidative enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase (GST), and glutathione (GSH) content, as well as lipid peroxidation, was measured in the liver of sea bass juveniles 90 days after hatching. Supplementation of the diet with S. cerevisiae significantly reduced the SOD and CAT activity, increased the GST activity, decreased the GSH content, and had no effect on lipid peroxidation. The results support the already reported radical-scavenging properties of yeast and usefulness of its employment as antiperoxidative agent in fish.

The Nrf2 transcription factor contributes to the induction of alpha-class GST isoenzymes in liver of acute cadmium or manganese intoxicated rats: comparison with the toxic effect on NAD(P)H:quinone reductase.

In rat liver, in addition to their intrinsic transferase activity, alpha-class GSTs have Se-independent glutathione peroxidase activity toward fatty acid hydroperoxides, cumene hydroperoxide and phospholipids hydroperoxides but not toward H(2)O(2.) We have previously shown that hepatic GST activity by these isoenzymes is significantly increased 24h after cadmium or manganese administration (Casalino et al., 2004). Here it is reported that Se-independent glutathione peroxidase activity by alpha-class GSTs is also stimulated in the liver of intoxicated rats. The stimulation is associated with a higher level of alpha-class GST proteins, whose induction is blocked by actinomycin D co-administration. The observed Se-independent glutathione peroxidase activity is due to alpha-class GST isoenzymes, as indicated by the studies with diethyldithiocarbamate which, at any concentration, equally inhibits both GST and Se-independent glutathione peroxidase and is an uncompetitive inhibitor of both enzymes. As for liver Se-GSPx, it is not at all affected under these toxic conditions. For comparison, we have evaluated the status of another important antioxidant enzyme, NAD(P)H:quinone reductase, 24h after cadmium or manganese administration. NQO1 too results strongly stimulated in the liver of the intoxicated rats. In these animals, a higher expression of Nrf2 protein is observed, actively translocated from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. The results with the transcription inhibitor, actinomycin D, and the effects on Nrf2 protein are the first clear indication that acute manganese intoxication, similarly to that of cadmium and other heavy metals, increases both the hepatic level of Nrf2 and its transfer from the cytoplasm to the nucleus where it actively regulates the induction of phase II enzymes.