Short-duration exercise and confinement alters bone mineral content and shape in weanling horses.

The hypothesis that short-duration exercise may ameliorate the decrease in bone mass observed with confinement was investigated with 18 quarter horses (nine colts and nine fillies) weaned at 4 mo of age and placed into box stalls. After a 5-wk adjustment period, individuals were grouped by age and weight, and then divided randomly into three treatment groups: 1) group housed; 2) confined with no exercise; and 3) confined with exercise. The confined and exercised groups were housed in 3.7 m x 3.7 m box stalls for the 56-d duration of the trial. The exercised group was sprinted 82 m/d, 5 d/wk, in a fenced grass alleyway. The weanlings were led down an alleyway, turned loose in a small pen, and then released and allowed to run back down the alley. The group horses were housed together in a 992-m2 drylot with free access to exercise. On d 0, 28, and 56, dorsopalmar and lateromedial radiographs of the left third metacarpal bone were taken to estimate changes in bone mineral content and cortical widths. Mean values of medial, lateral, and total radiographic bone aluminum equivalence increased over time (P < 0.05), whereas dorsal and palmar radiographic bone aluminum equivalence did not change significantly. Dorsal, medial, and total radiographic bone aluminum equivalence tended (P = 0.09) to differ by a treatment x day interaction, with values increasing over time only in the exercised group. Normalized medial and total radiographic bone aluminum equivalence tended (P < 0.1) to differ (P < 0.01) with treatment, with exercised horses having greater bone aluminum equivalence than confined horses. Dorsopalmar cortical width in exercised horses was greater than on d 56 (treatment x day; P = 0.07). The dorsopalmar medullary cavity decreased in exercised vs. group-housed horses (P = 0.027), whereas dorsal and medial cortical width tended to increase only in the exercised horses (treatment x day; P < 0.01). This study indicated that a short-duration exercise protocol might be effective in improving bone mass and therefore skeletal strength in horses.

High-intensity exercise of short duration alters bovine bone density and shape.

The ability of short-duration high-intensity exercise to stimulate bone formation in confinement was investigated using immature Holstein bull calves as a model. Eighteen bull calves, 8 wk of age, were assigned to one of three treatment groups: 1) group-housed (GR, which served as a control), 2) confined with no exercise (CF), or 3) confined with exercise (EX). The exercise protocol consisted of running 50 m on a concrete surface once daily, 5 d/wk. Confined calves remained stalled for the 42-d duration of the trial. Blood samples were taken to analyze concentrations of osteocalcin and deoxypyridinoline, markers of bone formation and resorption. At the completion of the trial, calves were humanely killed, and both forelegs were collected. The fused third and fourth metacarpal bone was scanned using computed tomography for determination of cross-sectional geometry and bone mineral density. Three-point bending tests to failure were performed on metacarpal bones. The exercise protocol resulted in the formation of a rounder bone in EX as well as in increased dorsal cortex thickness compared with those in the GR and CF. The exercised calves had a significantly smaller medullary cavity than CF and GR (P < 0.01) and a larger percentage of cortical bone area than CF (P < 0.01). Dorsal, palmar, and total bone mineral density was greater in EX than in CF (P < 0.05), and palmar and total bone mineral densities were greater (P < 0.05) in EX than in GR. There was a trend for the bones of EX to have a higher fracture force than CF (P < 0.10). Osteocalcin concentrations normalized from d 0 were higher in EX than CF (P < 0.05). Therefore, the exercise protocol altered bone shape and seemed to increase bone formation comparison with the stalled and group-housed calves.

Estimates of zinc and iron bioavailability in pork liver and the effect of sex of pig on the bioavailability of copper in pork liver fed to male and female chicks.

Four chick experiments were conducted to investigate possible explanations for why Cu bioavailability in pork liver is zero. One possible explanation was that pork liver contains compounds, such as Zn, that directly or indirectly inhibit Cu utilization. It has also been suggested that sex differences may influence Cu bioavailability. The effect of freeze-dried (FD) pork liver from gilts vs barrows was first examined. Neither FD gilt liver nor FD barrow liver provided any bioavailable Cu to chicks. The effect of sex of the chicks used in the assay (i.e., male chicks vs female chicks) was also examined, but there were no sex-dependent differences (P > .10) in the slopes of the standard curve generated by added Cu from CuSO4 or in the responses to added FD pork liver. Based on bone Zn uptake, Zn bioavailability in FD barrow liver and FD gilt liver was not different (P > .04) from that in ZnSO4, but Fe bioavailability (hemoglobin repletion assay) was approximately 40% (P < .05) of that in FeSO4 in both FD gilt liver and FD barrow liver.

Copper bioavailability in pork liver and in various animal by-products as determined by chick bioassay.

Three chick experiments were conducted to investigate possible explanations for why pork liver provides no bioavailable Cu to chicks. Autoclaving, acid-hydrolysis, and protease-digestion increased (P < .01) Cu bioavailability in pork liver to 32, 46, and 63%, respectively, from virtually 0% of the Cu in unprocessed pork liver (relative to CuSO4, which was set at 100%). Addition of EDTA at 200 mg/kg to the diet containing 1 mg of Cu/kg from unprocessed pork liver also resulted in an increased (P < .07) Cu bioavailability, to 23%. Tissues representing different sources of endogenous Cu in the pig also were evaluated for their Cu bioefficacy. Freeze-dried (FD) porcine bile did not have any bioavailable Cu, whereas spray-dried porcine plasma contained Cu that was as available (99%) as that in CuSO4. In addition, when FD pork liver or FD porcine bile was added to the basal diet containing .5 mg of Cu/kg from CuSO4, Cu bioavailability in CuSO4 was reduced (P < .05) to 34% and 19%, respectively, of values obtained with CuSO4 alone. An additional experiment was conducted to estimate Cu bioefficacy in selected animal-source feed ingredients. Copper bioavailability in all-beef meat and bone meal, all-pork meat and bone meal, mixed-species meat and bone meal, high-bone meat and bone meal, poultry byproduct meal, and hog hair meal was 4, 53, 28, 8, 42, and 9%, respectively, relative to CuSO4. Feather meal did not provide any bioavailable Cu to chicks.