Preconditioning beef cattle for long-duration transportation stress with rumen-protected methionine supplementation: A nutrigenetics study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 7; p. e0235481
• Main Authors: Alfaro, Gastón F, Novak, Taylor E, Rodning, Soren P, Moisá, Sonia J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco Public Library of Science 02.07.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Abattoirs; Animal sciences; Animals; Beef; Beef cattle; Biology and life sciences; Biopsy; Body weight; Cattle; Creatine; Creatine kinase; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Diet; DNA; DNA methylation; Engineering and Technology; Enzymes; Extracellular matrix; Feedlots; Gene expression; Gluten; Hulls; Intensive farming; Kinases; Laboratories; Meat quality; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metabolism; Methionine; mRNA; Muscle fatigue; Muscles; Muscular fatigue; Musculoskeletal system; Nutrient solutions; Nutrigenomics; Oxidative stress; Oxygen; Physical Sciences; Physiological aspects; Physiological research; Preconditioning; Reactive oxygen species; Rumen; Simulation; Skeletal muscle; Superoxide dismutase; Tissue analysis; Transportation; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235481

In general, beef cattle long-distance transportation from cow-calf operations to feedlots or from feedlots to abattoirs is a common situation in the beef industry. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of rumen-protected methionine (RPM) supplementation on a proposed gene network for muscle fatigue, creatine synthesis (CKM), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism after a transportation simulation in a test track. Angus x Simmental heifers (n = 18) were stratified by body weight (408 ± 64 kg; BW) and randomly assigned to dietary treatments: 1) control diet (CTRL) or 2) control diet + 8 gr/hd/day of top-dressed rumen-protected methionine (RPM). After an adaptation period to Calan gates, animals received the mentioned dietary treatment consisting of Bermuda hay ad libitum and a soy hulls and corn gluten feed based supplement. After 45 days of supplementation, animals were loaded onto a trailer and transported for 22 hours (long-term transportation). Longissimus muscle biopsies, BW and blood samples were obtained on day 0 (Baseline), 43 (Pre-transport; PRET), and 46 (Post-transport; POST). Heifers' average daily gain did not differ between baseline and PRET. Control heifer's shrink was 10% of BW while RPM heifers shrink was 8%. Serum cortisol decreased, and glucose and creatine kinase levels increased after transportation, but no differences were observed between treatments. Messenger RNA was extracted from skeletal muscle tissue and gene expression analysis was performed by RT-qPCR. Results showed that AHCY and DNMT3A (DNA methylation), SSPN (Sarcoglycan complex), and SOD2 (Oxidative Stress-ROS) were upregulated in CTRL between baseline and PRET and, decreased between pre and POST while they remained constant for RPM. Furthermore, CKM was not affected by treatments. In conclusion, RPM supplementation may affect ROS production and enhance DNA hypermethylation, after a long-term transportation.