• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.113-123
• /
• 2009

This study was carried out to determine effects of long-term supply of Cordyceps militaris mycelia on cordycepin content in milk in dairy cows. Ten Holstein cows in the early stages of lactation were divided into two groups. Control group received no supplement whereas treatment group received 6% of C. militaris mycelia of their dry matter intake for 6 months. Feed intake, milk urea nitrogen and somatic cell counts were not affected by long-term supply of C. militaris mycelia for the whole period. In addition, milk yield and milk composition were not affected by long-term supply of C. militaris mycelia at any time of the periods with the exception of milk protein content and yield. The average of milk protein content and yield from the whole period was higher for C. militaris mycelia supplement group than for the control group. As expected, cordycepin in whole blood and milk was not detected in the control group. The range of cordycepin content in the treatment was 0.31~0.38µ/ml and 0.18~0.26(µ/ml for whole blood and milk, respectively. Individual variation was found to be very high and, furthermore cordycepin was undetected in some milk samples. Thus, no clear pattern could be seen in cordycepin content in milk throughout the whole period. Overall, the results of the present study suggest that the transfer efficiency of cordycepin to milk by supplementing C. militaris mycelia in dairy cows was unpredictable and low.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.161-171
• /
• 2019

Four-week-old male Korean native chicks (KNC) were assigned to 3 groups with 6 replicates (8 birds/replicate) in each group: a basal diet (CON, 100 ppm of Zn), basal diet fortified with 50 ppm of Zn with zinc oxide (ZnO), or basal diet fortified with 50 ppm of Zn with Zn-methionine (ZnM). Immediately after a 4-week-feeding trial, 6 birds per group were used to evaluate the effects of zinc supplements on antioxidant indicators and the mRNA expression of zinc transport genes. The nitrogen components, lipid peroxidation, and total antioxidant status in blood were not influenced by Zn fortified diets. However, the ZnM group showed a significant (P<0.05) increase in uric acid levels than those in the ZnO group. In the small intestine, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities, and malondialdehyde (MDA) level were unaffected by zinc supplements. The activity of glutathione S-transferase (GST) was significantly (P<0.05) enhanced by Zn-methionine supplementation. In the liver, the activity of GST was significantly (P<0.05) increased by Zn-methionine supplement without affecting SOD, GPX, and MDA levels. With respect to the mRNA expression of zinc transport genes, the ZnM group displayed a strong tendency for increases in intestinal ZnT-1 (P=0.09) and ZnT-5 (P=0.06) levels, compared to those in the CON group. Moreover, the ZnM group showed a tendency (P=0.10) for up-regulation of hepatic metallothionein mRNA as compared with the CON group. In conclusion, the Zn-fortified diet with 50 ppm of Zn-methionine helped to improve GST activity and Zn transport gene expression in the small intestine or liver of KNC.