Hypothalamic proopiomelanocortin mRNA levels in suckled or nonsuckled beef cows: A preliminary study
This study was conducted to determine proopiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA levels in the preoptic and hypothalamic brain regions of postpartum anestrous cows. An additional objective was to determine if calf suckling influences POMC mRNA concentration in these regions. Twenty cows were randomly assigned...
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Published in | Theriogenology Vol. 40; no. 4; pp. 661 - 668 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Elsevier Inc
01.10.1993
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | This study was conducted to determine proopiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA levels in the preoptic and hypothalamic brain regions of postpartum anestrous cows. An additional objective was to determine if calf suckling influences POMC mRNA concentration in these regions. Twenty cows were randomly assigned to suckled and nonsuckled treatment groups and slaughtered between 30 and 36 days postpartum. Serum luteinizing hormone (LH) concentrations were determined from blood collected every 15 minutes for 8 hours, starting 20 hours prior to slaughter. POMC mRNA levels in brain tissues were determined by dot blots. Serum LH concentrations between nonsuckled and suckled cows were 1.3 ± 0.2 and 0.9 ± 0.1 ng·ml
−1 (mean ± SEM; P = 0.19), respectively. The POMC gene is expressed in the hypothalamus of postpartum anestrus cows with POMC mRNA levels higher (P<0.05) in the hypothalamus than in the preoptic region. Hypothalamic POMC mRNA levels tended (P = 0.12) to be lower in nonsuckled (14.9 ± 3.8 ADU) than in suckled cows (23.5 ± 3.6 ADU). Covariate analysis indicated (P = 0.10) that as mean serum LH concentrations increased, hypothalamic POMC mRNA levels decreased. |
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Bibliography: | 9432056 L50 L02 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0093-691X 1879-3231 |
DOI: | 10.1016/0093-691X(93)90202-G |