• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.221-228
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• 2018

Rumen cannulation is used for nutritional and microbiological research, clinical diagnosis, and rumen component transfaunation. However, the cannulation procedure can affect parameters such as complete blood count findings, serum chemistry, and rumen fluid pH. The objective of this study was to evaluate the health risks related to the rumen cannulation procedure over a 1-month period. We did not identify significant differences in red blood cell numbers or morphologies between pre- and postoperative timepoints. Moreover, no inflammation or infection was detected. Despite the absence of apparent clinical signs after surgery, serum chemistry results revealed changes in blood urea nitrogen levels and the activities of liver enzymes, including aspartate transaminase, lactate dehydrogenase, and creatinine kinase, from postoperative days 1 to 14. Rumen fluid pH, as measured from samples collected via an orogastric tube, was slightly increased after a preoperative fasting period and on postoperative day 1 but decreased thereafter from postoperative day 4, indicating a minor influence of cannulation surgery on ruminal fluid pH. This is the first study to evaluate hematological parameters and rumen pH before and after rumen cannulation surgery in Hanwoo cattle. Further research is required to better elucidate the potential effects of rumen cannulation surgery on animal health.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.66 no.2
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• pp.353-365
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• 2024

Rumen cannulation is a surgical technique used to collect rumen contents from ruminants. However, rumen cannulation surgery may potentially impact the composition of the rumen microbiota. This study aimed to examine the longitudinal alterations in the rumen microbiota composition of Hanwoo steers after cannulation surgery. In this study, eight Hanwoo steers were used; four steers underwent rumen cannulation surgery (cannulation group), while the remaining four were left intact (control group). Rumen samples were collected from all eight steers using the stomach tubing method on the day before surgery (day 0) and on postoperative days 1, 4, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, and 28, resulting in 80 samples (10 timepoints × 8 animals). The microbiota of all 80 samples were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing with Quantitative Insights into Microbial Ecology version 2 (QIIME2). There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in all major phyla and most major genera representing at least 0.5% of total sequences across all 80 samples between the control and cannulation groups on the preoperative and postoperative days. However, while the alpha diversity indices did not differ (p > 0.05) between the two groups on the preoperative day, they significantly differed (p < 0.05) between the two groups on the postoperative days. Further, the overall microbial distribution based on both unweighted and weighted principal coordinate analysis plots significantly differed (p < 0.05) between the two groups on both the preoperative and postoperative days. Orthogonal polynomial contrasts indicated that major genera and microbial diversity in the cannulation group decreased following surgery but returned to their initial states by postoperative day 28. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that rumen cannulation surgery affects some major taxa and microbial diversity, suggesting that the rumen cannulation method can alter the composition of rumen microbiota in Hanwoo steers.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1700-1705
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• 2018

We evaluated the influence of sampling technique (cannulation vs. stomach tube) and site (dorsal sac vs. ventral sac) on the rumen microbiome and fermentation parameters in Hanwoo steers. Rumen samples were collected from three cannulated Hanwoo steers via both a stomach tube and cannulation, and 16S rRNA gene amplicons were sequenced on the MiSeq platform to investigate the rumen microbiome composition among samples obtained via 1) the stomach tube, 2) dorsal sac via rumen cannulation, and 3) ventral sac via rumen cannulation. A total of 722,001 high-quality 16S rRNA gene sequences were obtained from the three groups and subjected to phylogenetic analysis. There was no significant difference in the composition of the major taxa or alpha diversity among the three groups (p>0.05). Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes represented the first and second most dominant phyla, respectively, and their abundances did not differ among the three groups (p>0.05). Beta diversity principal coordinate analysis also did not separate the rumen microbiome based on the three sample groups. Moreover, there was no effect of sampling site or method on fermentation parameters, including pH and volatile fatty acids (p>0.05). Overall, this study demonstrates that the rumen microbiome and fermentation parameters are not affected by different sampling techniques and sampling sites. Therefore, a stomach tube can be a feasible alternative method to collect representative rumen samples rather than the standard and more invasive method of rumen cannulation in Hanwoo steers.