• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.142-148
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• 2000

The purpose of this research was to investigate effects of Samultang water extract (SMT) on cytokine production from immune cells during the late stage of pregnancy in BALB/c mice. SMT(500 mg/kg) was administered p.o. once a day for 7 days, and then thymocytes and peritoneal macrophages were separated. At the late stage of pregnant mice, the proliferation of thymocytes and the production of ${\gamma}-interferon$ in thymocytes were decreased as compared with normal group, but the production of interleukin-2 and interleukin-4 was increased. The production of tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$, nitric oxide and phagocytic activity in peritoneal macrophage was increased as compared with normal group. At the late stage of pregnant mice administered with SMT, the production of interleukin-2 in thymocytes was decreased as compared with a pregnant group, but the proliferation of thymocytes, the production of ${\gamma}-interferon$ and interleukin-4 was increased. The production of tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$ and nitric oxide in peritoneal macrophages were decreased as compared with a pregnant group, but phagocytic activity were increased. These results suggest that SMT has the regulative action on immune function of thymocytes and peritoneal macrophages at the late stage of pregnant mice.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.167-174
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• 1994

This experiment was undertaken to investigate the effect of splenectomy on the hematology and maintenance of pregnant rats. Those animals that had shown regular 4 or 5 day estrous cycles for more than two cycles were used. The day after mating ws designated Day 0 of pregnancy. Spleen was removed from Day 0(early), 6(middle) and 13(late) of pregnant rat, respectively. Blood was collected on Day 1, 7, 14 and 21 of the pregnancy. 1. The total serum protein was increased significantly (P<0.05) to the progress of pregnancy in control rat. All rats that splenectomized groups were decreased significantly(P<0.05) at Day 21 of pregnancy than control rats. 2. Albumin was not significantly changed. 3. Globulin was decreased significantly(P<0.05) between contol and middle treatment at Day 7, 14 of pregnancy. 4. Glucose was increased for the due to the pregress of pregnancy. It was no significance differences among the each groups. 5. Rate of abortion was increased in groups of early and middle of splenectomy compared with control. 6. Period of pregnancy was delayed in middle and late splenectomized gruops companed with control. 7. Litter size was lowed significantly (P<0.05) in early and middle splenectomized groups compared with control.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1991-2000
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• 2018

Objective: Triplet-born lambs are less likely to survive to weaning than twin-born or single-born lambs. Appropriate ewe-lamb bonding behaviours and lamb vigour behaviours are necessary for survival of lambs. The aim of this experiment was to determine whether maternal nutrition during late pregnancy influenced behaviour of the ewe and her lambs soon after birth, and to determine whether mid-pregnancy body condition score (BCS) influenced any behavioural response. Methods: The experiments included ewes that were in BCS 2.0, 2.5, or 3.0 in mid-pregnancy and were fed either ad libitum or to pregnancy-maintenance requirements in late-pregnancy (day 115 until 136 in experiment one, and day 128 until 141 in experiment two). The time taken for lambs to stand, contact dam, suck from dam and follow dam was recorded three to 18 h after birth. The number of high- and low-pitched bleats emitted by the ewe and lambs was recorded, along with maternal behaviour score (MBS) of the ewe. Lambs in experiment two underwent a maternal-recognition test at 12 or 24 h. Results: There were significant effects of feeding treatment on bleating behaviour of ewes and lambs, but these were inconsistent among BCS groups and between experiments. Lamb vigour behaviours were not affected by feeding treatment. In experiment one, there was no effect of feeding treatment or BCS on MBS, but in experiment two, ewes in BCS3 in mid-pregnancy had greater MBS than ewes in BCS2 in mid-pregnancy (MBS 3.1/5 vs MBS 2.1/5; p<0.05). Conclusion: Given there were no repeatable effects on behaviour of ewes and lambs, ad libitum feeding rather than feeding for pregnancy-maintenance requirements cannot be used to improve behaviours soon after birth of triplet-bearing ewes in BCS 2-3 and their lambs in extensive pastoral conditions.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1633-1639
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• 2009

This study investigated the effect of maternal undernutrition during late pregnancy on the growth and development of ovine fetal visceral organs. One hundred Mongolian ewes were mated at a synchronized oestrus and divided into three groups and offered 0.175 MJ ME $kgw^{-0.75}\;d^{-1}$ (Restricted Group1; RG1), 0.33 MJ ME $kgw^{-0.75}\;d^{-1}$ (Restricted Group2; RG2) and ad libitum access to feed (Control Group; CG) during late pregnancy (90 days). Selected animals in each group were slaughtered immediately at d 90 of pregnancy and after parturition (neonatal lambs), and major visceral organs were removed and weighed separately. The results indicated that the weights of lung (p<0.01), spleen (p<0.01), heart (p<0.05), liver (p<0.05) and abomasum (p<0.01) in RG1 were significantly lighter than those of CG. For RG2, only the weights of the lung (p<0.05) and spleen (p<0.01) were significantly lighter than those of CG; when expressed as a percentage of body weight, significance was retained in the spleen (p<0.01) for both restricted groups, but the percentage of brain in RG1 was significantly higher than that in CG (p<0.01). For lung and spleen, the amount of DNA was significantly lower (p<0.01) in both groups of restricted neonatal lambs compared to CG; however, there was a significant difference only between RG1 and CG for protein: DNA ratio (p<0.01). The DNA content of kidney, abomasum and jejunum were decreased (p<0.05) in RG1 neonatal lambs, but protein: DNA ratio in the liver was decreased compared with that of CG (p<0.05). The plane of maternal undernutrition during late pregnancy had a significant effect on the growth and development of fetal visceral organs, which altered ontogeny of fetal organ growth and development. These perturbations in fetal visceral development may have significant implications on postnatal growth and adult health.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1270-1277
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• 2017

Objective: The present study aimed to determine the impact of ewe body condition score (BCS) (over a range of 2.0 to 3.0) and nutritional treatments (consisting of differing herbage masses) during very late pregnancy and lactation and their potential interaction on the performance of twin-bearing ewes and their lambs to weaning. Methods: On day 142 of pregnancy, twin-bearing ewes with a BCS of 2.0, 2.5, or 3.0 were allocated to a "Moderate' or 'Unrestricted' nutritional treatment until day 95 of lactation (weaning). The nutritional treatments aimed to achieve average herbage masses of 1,200 to 1,300 kg dry matter (DM)/ha (Moderate) and 1,500 to 1,800 kg DM/ha (Unrestricted). Results: There were no three-way interactions between ewe BCS group, nutritional treatment and time for any ewe or lamb parameter. The nutritional treatments had no effect (p>0.05) on lamb birth or weaning weight. Lambs born to Moderate ewes had greater survival and total litter weight at weaning (p<0.05). Regardless of BCS group, Unrestricted treatment ewes had greater body condition and back-fat depth at weaning than Moderate treatment ewes (p<0.05). Ewes of BCS 2.0 group reared lighter lambs to weaning (p<0.05) and tended to have a lower total litter weight (p = 0.06) than BCS 3.0 group ewes. Conclusion: This study suggests farmers should aim to have all ewes with a BCS of 2.5 or 3 in late pregnancy for optimal lamb weaning performance. Furthermore, there is no benefit to lamb production of offering ewes pasture masses >1,200 kg DM/ha during very late pregnancy and lactation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.371-375
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• 2008

This study investigated the effects of maternal undernutrition during late pregnancy on lamb birth weight. 45 Mongolian ewes, synchronized for oestrus and then mated, were divided into four groups and offered 0.86 MJME/kgw-0.75d-1 (control group; CG : ad libitum access to feed), $0.44MJME/kgw^{-0.75}d^{-1}$ (Restricted Group 3; R3), $0.33MJME/kgw^{-0.75}d^{-1}$ (Restricted Group 2; R2) and $0.20MJME/kgw^{-0.75}d^{-1}$ (Restricted Group 1; R1) respectively during late pregnancy (90-150 days). During restriction, maternal net body weight loss, insulin and NEFA concentrations and lamb birth weight were measured. The results indicated that loss of maternal body weight in R3, R2 and R1 was 4.42, 7.23, 11.13 kg respectively, which was significantly (p<0.01) higher than that in CG (0.93 kg). Insulin concentrations of the ewes in R1, R2 and R3 were lower and were significantly different (p<0.05) between restricted groups and CG at 124 d of pregnancy. NEFA concentrations in all groups tended to decrease from 90d of gestation to parturition and in R1 were significantly (p<0.05) lower than in CG at 124 d of gestation. Lamb birth weight in R1 was significantly lower than in R2, R3 and CG (p<0.05). In conclusion, with decreasing supply of maternal nutrition, the retardation of fetal growth became worse. When the plane of nutrition was below $0.33MJME/kgw^{-0.75}d^{-1}$, significant effects of maternal undernutrition on lamb birth weight were observed.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.828-833
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• 2002

Thirty mature pregnant ewes of the Phan Rang breed with an initial live weight of 30 to 45 kg were used to compare the effects of three different diets in late pregnancy on ewe and lamb performance. All diets contained 20% of whole sugar cane, 16% rice bran, 26% cassava root and 6% molasses urea block. The remaining 32% of dry matter consisted of Jackfruit (JF diet), 16% each of Jackfruit and Cassava foliage (JF+CS diet) or Jackfruit and Flemingia foliage (JF+FM diet). The diets were fed at 3.5% of actual BW of the individual animal. The foliages were offered at 120% of the amount decided in the diets of the requirements. The JF+CS diet resulted in significantly higher feed intake than the JF diet, and also a higher feed intake than the JF+FM diet, but this difference was not significant. The ewe weight changes during the last 8 weeks of pregnancy, or from start to 24 h after lambing, were significantly different. The highest weight gain was obtained from the ewes fed the JF+CS diet. Diets had no effect on weight changes of ewes during 3 weeks after lambing but a significant effect on the litter birth weight, with the JF+CS diet giving the highest litter birth weight. There was, however, no effect on the litter weight at 21 days or litter growth rate from birth to 21 days due to the experimental diets.

• Korean Journal of Exercise Nutrition
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.23-28
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• 2009

The expression of c-Fos and c-Jun represents neuronal activity and plays a crucial role in the shaping of the development of brain. During the late pregnancy, exercise is known to influence neuronal activity of offspring. In the present study, the effect of swimming during pregnancy on the expression of c-Fos and c-Jun in the CA1, CA2, CA3 regions, and the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus of rat offspring was investigated using immunohistochemistry. Pregnant rats in the swimming group were forced to swim for 10 min once a day from 15 days after pregnancy until delivery. The expression of c-Fos and c-Jun in the CA1, CA2, CA3 regions, and the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus of pups was significantly increased by maternal swimming during late pregnant period. The present results show that prenatal swimming may enhance the neuronal activity of pups and affect the neonatal brain development.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.441-450
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• 2023

Objective: Serum amyloid A3 (SAA3), an acute phase response protein, plays important roles in opsonization, antimicrobial activity, chemotactic activity, and immunomodulation, but its expression, regulation, and function at the maternal-conceptus interface in pigs are not fully understood. Therefore, we determined the expression of SAA3 in the endometrium throughout the estrous cycle and at the maternal-conceptus interface during pregnancy. Methods: Endometrial tissues from pigs at various stages of the estrous cycle and pregnancy and with conceptuses derived from somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), conceptus tissues during early pregnancy, and chorioallantoic tissues during mid- to late pregnancy were obtained and the expression of SAA3 was analyzed. The effects of the steroid hormones, interleukin-1β (IL1B), and interferon-γ (IFNG) on the expression of SAA3 were determined in endometrial explant cultures. Results: SAA3 was expressed in the endometrium during the estrous cycle and pregnancy, with the highest level on day 12 of pregnancy. The expression of SAA3 in the endometrium was significantly higher on day 12 of pregnancy than during the estrous cycle. Early-stage conceptuses and chorioallantoic tissues during mid to late pregnancy also expressed SAA3. The expression of SAA3 was primarily localized to luminal epithelial cells in the endometrium. In endometrial explant cultures, the expression of SAA3 was induced by increasing doses of IL1B and IFNG. Furthermore, the expression of SAA3 decreased significantly in the endometria of pigs carrying conceptuses derived from SCNT on day 12 of pregnancy. Conclusion: These results suggest that the expression of SAA3 in the endometrium during the implantation period increases in response to conceptus-derived IL1B and IFNG. The failure of those appropriate interactions between the implanting conceptus and the endometrium leads to dysregulation of endometrial SAA3 expression, which could result in pregnancy failure. In addition, SAA3 could be a specific endometrial epithelial marker for conceptus implantation in pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.1445-1452
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• 2002

The present experiment was carried out to study the utilization of substrates in the mammary gland of crossbred Holstein Friesian during feeding on different types of roughage. Sixteen pregnant crossbred Holstein heifers consisted of two breed types of eight animals each; Holstein Friesian${\times}$Red Sindhi (50:50=50%HF) and Holstein Friesian${\times}$Red Sindhi (87.5:12.5=87.5%HF). Animals were divided into four groups of the same breed type in each group which were fed with either rice straw treated with 5% urea or pangola hay (Digitaria decumbens) as the source of roughage throughout the experiments. Four consecutive experimental periods were carried out in late pregnancy (20-23 days before parturition), early lactation (30 days postpartum), mid-lactation (120 days postpartum) and late lactation (210 days postpartum). Measurement of mammary blood flow in combining with measurement of AV difference was performed for the mammary uptake of substrates. In the period of lactation, udder blood flow was nearly three times higher than that of late pregnant period (p<0.05) in both 50%HF and 87.5%HF feeding on either hay or urea treated rice straw. During mid- and late lactation of both groups of 87.5%HF animals, mammary blood flow and milk yield showed decrease when compared to those during the early lactating period while the trends for persistency were apparent in both groups of 50%HF animals throughout experimental periods. The mean arterial plasma concentrations of glucose, acetate, $\beta$-hydroxybutyrate and free glycerol in each group remained constant throughout experimental periods. During late pregnancy in all groups, the AV difference and extraction ratio of glucose, $\beta$-hydroxybutyrate and triacylglycerol across the mammary gland markedly lowered (p<0.05), which coincided with a lower net uptake by the mammary gland in comparison to the early lactating period. The mean arterial plasma concentration, AV difference and extraction ratio for acetate showed no significant differences between late pregnancy and the early lactating period. The AV difference of free glycerol showed apparent release from mammary tissue during late pregnancy in all groups. In mid- and late lactation, the mammary uptake for glucose, acetate and $\beta$-hydroxybutyrate in both groups of 87.5%HF animals showed apparent decrease as compared to that in the early lactating period, whereas no appearances were observed in 50%HF animals feeding either hay or urea treated rice straw. The mean arterial plasma concentrations for free fatty acid (FFA) and triacylglycerol (C16 to C18) were higher in late pregnancy than in early lactation in both types of crossbred animals. The values of AV difference and the net uptake by the mammary gland for FFA were variable during late pregnancy and lactating periods in all groups. There were no significant differences for AV difference, extraction ratio and net uptake of triacylglycerol during lactation advance in both groups of 50%HF and 87.5%HF animals feeding either hay or urea treated rice straw. These results suggest that the adaptations to either hay or urea treated rice straw by the mammary gland of crossbred HF animals allow for an adequate nutrient supply during pregnancy and lactation. There is no difference in the mode of mammary uptake of substrates in the same crossbred animals in response to feeding hay or urea treated rice straw. The differences in utilizing nutrients by the mammary gland for milk production between 87.5%HF and 50%HF animals would be dependent on changes in both intra-mammary factors and extra-mammary factors.