• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.1068-1075
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• 2000

A study involving nutrient balances and radioisotope labeling techniques was undertaken to study energy and protein metabolism, and glucose kinetics of female crossbred Etawah goats, using 12 weaned (BW $14.0{\pm}2.0kg$), 12 late pregnant (BW $27.8{\pm}1.8kg$) and 12 first lactation does (BW $25.0{\pm}5.0kg$). Each class of animal was randomly allotted into 3 dietary treatment groups R1, R2 and R3, that received 100%, 85%, and 70% of ad libitum feed. The rations offered were pellets containing 21.8% CP and 19.3 MJ GE/kg, except for the lactating does who received pellets (17.2% CP and 18.9 MJ GE/kg) and fresh Penisetum purpureum grass. Energy and nitrogen balance studies were conducted during a two-week trial. Daily heat production (HP, estimated by the carbon dioxide entry rate technique), glucose pool and flux were measured. Equations were found for metabolizable energy (ME) and protein intake (IP) requirements for growing goats: ME (MJ/d)=1.87+0.55 RE-0.001 ADG+0.044 RP $(R^2=0.89)$ and IP (g/d)=48.47+2.99 RE+0.029 ADG+0.79 RP $(R^2=0.90)$; for pregnant does: ME (MJ/d)=5.92+0.96 RE-0.002 ADG+0.003 RP $(R^2=0.99)$ and IP (g/d)=58.34+5.41 RE+0.625 ADG-0.30 RP $(R^2=0.98)$; and for lactating does: ME (MJ/d)=4.23+0.713 RE+0.003 ADG+0.006 RP+0.002 MY $(R^2=0.86)$; IP (g/d)=84.05-5.36 RE+0.055 ADG-0.16 RP+0.068 MY $(R^2=0.45)$, where RE is retained energy (MJ/d), ADG is average daily gain in weight (g/d), RP is retained protein (g/d) and MY is milk yield (ml/d). ME and IP requirements for maintenance for growing goats were 0.46 MJ/d.kg $BW^{0.75}$ and 7.43 g/d.kg $BW^{0.75}$, respectively. Values for the pregnant and lactating does were in the same order, 0.55 MJ/d.kg $BW^{0.75}$ and 11.7 g/d.kg $BW^{0.75}$, and 0.50 MJ/d.kg $BW^{0.75}$ and 10.8 g/d.kg $BW^{0.75}$, respectively. Milk protein ranged from 3.06 to 3.5% and milk fat averaged 5.2%. Glucose metabolism in Etawah crossbred female goat is active, but glucose flux is low compared to temperate ruminant breeds which may implicate its role to support production.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.322-331
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• 2002

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of vitamin $B_{6}$ intake by normal term delivery pregnant women on the concentration of vitamin $B_{6}$ in the material plasma, the umbilical cord plasma, and the placental tissue. Dietary intake data were obtained from a semi-quantitative frequency questionnaire. The daily mean energy and protein intakes were 2189.5 kcal (93.2% of RDA) and 79.3 g (113.3% of RDA), respectively. The average daily vitamin $B_{6}$ intake was 1.7 mg (91.4% of RDA) for the pregnant women. Their main sources of vitamin $B_{6}$ were cereal & starch (50%), and vegetables & fruits (33%). The pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) concentration of the maternal plasma, the umbilical cord plasma, and the placenta were 16.7 $\pm$ 4.1 nmol/1, 61.3 $\pm$ 19.8 nmol/l and 898.6 $\pm$ 159.2 ng/g, respectively. The PLP level was the highest in the placenta. The PLP level of the maternal plasma was significantly lower than the of the umbilical cord plasma (p < 0.001). The PLP level of maternal plasma correlated positively with that of the placenta (p < 0.0001) and the umbilical cord plasma (p < 0.05). Also the PLP level of the placenta correlated positively with that of the umbilical cord plasma (p < 0.05). These findings indicate that the vitamin $B_{6}$ nutritional status of the fetus is affected by placental vitamin $B_{6}$ levels, and that the placental vitamin B$_{6}$ levels reflect the maternal vitamin $B_{6}$ status. The umbilical cord plasma PLP level showed a positive correlation with the gestational length (p < 0.05). A negative association was observed between the PLP level showed of the umbilical cord plasma and the pregnancy weight gain (p < 0.03). The results suggest that the transfer of PLP from maternal plasma to the placental tissue could be an active transport, white the transfer of PLP from the placenta to the fetus is by means of simple diffusion. Thus, neonatal vitamin $B_{6}$ nutrition is influenced by the maternal nutritional status.