Search

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of indigenous herbal supplements on growth, blood metabolites and carcass characteristics in the late fattening period of Hanwoo steers. In a 6 month feeding trial, thirty Hanwoo steers (647±32 kg) were allotted to one of 5 treatment groups, control (basal diet contained lasalocid), licorice, clove, turmeric and silymarin, with six steers per pen. All groups received ad libitum concentrate and 1 kg rice straw/animal/d throughout the feeding trial. Blood samples were collected at the beginning, middle, and the end of the experiment and the steers were slaughtered at the end. Blood glucose, triglyceride, total protein, and albumin concentrations were higher in the turmeric treatment compared with other treatments. Blood urea nitrogen and creatinine concentrations were highest (p

We investigated the effect of quercetin on growth and plasma cholesterol level and the effects of quercetin pretreatment (Diet 1, 0%; Diet 2, 0.25%; and Diet 3, 0.5% quercetin) for 30 and 60 days on oxidative stress induced by hypo-osmotic conditions (17.5, 8.75, and 4 psu) in olive flounder. The weights of flounder were higher with Diet 3 than with Diet 1 and 2, which indicated that a high concentration (Diet 3) of quercetin was very effective in growth. Total cholesterol levels were lower with Diets 2 and 3 than with Diet 1, leading us to hypothesize that quercetin removed low-density lipoproteins from circulation and thereby reduced total cholesterol. To understand the antioxidant role of quercetin, we measured the mRNA expression and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) and the H2O2 concentration in quercetin-treated flounder exposed to osmotic stress. The H2O2 concentration and the SOD and CAT expression and activity levels were lower in flounder fed with Diets 2 and 3 than with Diet 1, suggesting that quercetin directly scavenges reactive oxygen species to reduce oxidative stress. Furthermore, the plasma lysozyme activity and osmolality were higher with Diets 2 and 3 than with Diet 1, indicating that quercetin increases immune function and helps to maintain physiological homeostasis. Plasma cortisol was lower with Diets 2 and 3 than with Diet 1, suggesting the quercetin protects against stress. These results indicate that quercetin has hypocholesterolemic and antioxidant effects, increases immune function, and acts to maintain physiological homeostasis. (Key Words : Quercetin, Antioxidant, ROS, Salinity, SOD, CAT)

Because of high growth rate and large deposition of fat in the abdomen, the chicken has been used as a model organism for understanding lipid metabolism, fattening and growing. In this study, differentially expression of proteins in chicken liver, one of the important organs for lipid metabolism, has been investigated at four different growing stages. After separation of proteins using two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE), more than 700 protein spots were detected. Among them, 13 growing stage specific proteins in chicken liver were selected and further investigated by matrix-assisted laser adsorptions ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Of these, 12 proteins were matched to existing proteins based on a database search. The identified fat-related proteins in this study were fatty acid synthase (FASN) and malic enzyme (ME1). These proteins were more highly expressed at week 32 than at other weeks. In order to confirm the differential expression, one of the proteins, FASN, was confirmed by western blotting. The identified proteins will give valuable information on biochemical roles in chicken liver, especially for lipid metabolism.

In order to distinguish Korean cattle (Hanwoo) beef from the imported beef from Australia in Korean markets, DNA In order to distinguish korean cattle (Hanvoo) been from the imported beef from Australia in Korean markets, DNA markers based on PCR-RFLP from mitochondrial genes and SRY gene were applied. A total of 2,826 beef samples comprising 1,495 Hanwoo and 1,331 foreign cattle breeds were obtained in Korea. An 801 bp fragment of the SRY gene on the bovine Y chromosome, a 343 bp fragment of ND4 gene and a 528 bp fragment of ND5 gene in the bovine mtDNA were amplified by PCR and digested with three restriction enzymes, Msel, HpyCH 4 III and Tsp509I, respectively. The results showed that Bos taurus (T) type was the majority in Hanwoo by combining three markers (99.5%). However, 78.2% of Bos indicus (I) type was observed in the imported beef samples. These results indicated that three markers used in this study will be used as valuable markers for discriminating imported beef against Hanwoo.