BACKGROUND It has been well documented that the maturing oocyte is very vulnerable to changes in its micro-environment, the follicular fluid (FF). Recent research has focused on different components within this FF, like hormones, growth factors and metabolites, and how their concentrations are altered by diet and the metabolic health of the mother. It has been proposed that fatty acids (FAs) ar...

Nicotinic acid (niacin) can suppress lipolysis, but responses to dietary niacin have been inconsistent in cattle. Our aim was to determine if 24 g/d of encapsulated niacin (EN; providing 9.6g/d of bioavailable nicotinic acid) alters lipid metabolism and productivity of transition cows. Beginning 21 d before expected calving, primiparous (n = 9) and multiparous (n = 13) cows (body condition scor...

Development of the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) can importantly contribute to lethal cell injury from both necrosis and apoptosis, but its role varies considerably with both the type of cell and type of injury, and it can be strongly opposed by the normally abundant endogenous metabolites ADP and Mg(2+). To better characterize the MPT in kidney proximal tubule cells and assess it...

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of dietary phytate and microbial phytase on the lipase activity, lipid metabolism and mRNA expressions of fatty acid synthase (FASN) and leptin in broiler chickens. The study was conducted as a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement of treatments with phytate phosphorus at 0.20 and 0.40 % (added as the sodium phytate) and supplemental microb...

Mechanisms underlying the lipodystrophy syndrome associated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV infection are not completely understood. We investigated the effect of ART on blood lipid concentrations in the fasting state and after consumption of a meal containing [1-13C]palmitic acid in HIV-positive men receiving nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI, n 7), NRTI combined with...

In mice, peripheral 5-HT induces an increase in the plasma concentrations of glucose, insulin and bile acids, and a decrease in plasma triglyceride, NEFA and cholesterol concentrations. However, given the unique characteristics of the metabolism of ruminants relative to monogastric animals, the physiological role of peripheral 5-HT on glucose and lipid metabolism in sheep remains to be establis...

Despite their important role in tissues, fluids and foods, the analysis of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) as methyl esters (NEFAME) is performed using expensive, cumbersome and time-consuming procedures that needs of isolation, fractionation and derivatization steps. However, Yi et al. [1] proposed a promising in situ, single-step procedure to analyze esterified fatty acids (EFA) and NEFA fr...

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of butaphosphan and cyanocobalamin (BTPC) supplementation on plasma metabolites and milk production in postpartum dairy cows. A total of fifty-two Holstein cows were randomly assigned to receive either: (1) 10 ml of saline (NaCl 0.9%, control group); (2) 1000 mg of butaphosphan and 0.5 mg of cyanocobalamin (BTPC1 group); and (3) 2000 mg of butap...