Chemical castration in cattle with intratesticular injection of sodium chloride: Effects on stress and inflammatory markers.

Intratesticular injection (ITI) of sodium chloride (NaCl) is efficient for chemical castration of young calves, but its effects on calves welfare are unknown. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of ITI of 20% NaCl on stress and inflammatory markers in calves less than 20 days old and to assess the efficiency of ITI of 30% NaCl in 5 months old calves. In Experiment 1, control calves were only restrained and compared to calves submitted to castration through surgery (SC) and ITI with 20% NaCl (n = 9/group). No differences were observed for the eye corner temperature measured by thermography from 60 s before to 60 s after the procedures (P > 0.05). In the SC group, acute serum cortisol levels increased at 30 and 60 min after the procedure, but increased levels in the ITI group occurred only at 30 min (P < 0.05). Chronic discomfort markers were measured at 0, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h after the procedures (D0, D1, D2, D3 and D4, respectively). The serum levels of the paraoxonase 1 (PON1) enzyme and cortisol did not differ among groups (P > 0.05). Scrotal temperature was higher at D1 in the SC group than for the other groups, but lowest at D4 compared to the control (both P < 0.05). In Experiment 2, histological sections of testes were compared after ITI with either 30% NaCl or 30% calcium chloride (CaCl2), to intact calves (control). After 60 days, intact seminiferous tubules and mediastinum were observed after ITI with 30% NaCl, whereas coagulative necrosis, inflammatory infiltration and calcification occurred after ITI with 30% CaCl2. Efficient chemical castration through ITI of 20% NaCl in young calves was followed by slight stress and inflammatory responses compared to surgical castration. However, ITI of 30% NaCl was ineffective for chemical castration of 5 months old calves.

Animal performance and carcass characteristics from confined lambs fed on concentrate feed and additives.

The number of sheep flocks in Brazil is increasing. It is known that lambs must be slaughtered when young for producing quality meat. The current study evaluated the inclusion of protected methionine, protected lysine, lysophospholipid and amylolytic enzymes in a diet to lambs and their effects on weight gain and quantitative carcass traits at slaughtering. Eighty non-castrated male crossbred Dorper x Santa Inês lambs, 20.57 ± 4.33 kg live weight, were used. The feedlot lasted 64 days and 60 animals were slaughtered. There were no differences for live weight, daily feed intake, feed conversion and average daily weight gain at the first 28 days of feedlot. From the 28th day lysophospholipid treatment presented the highest live weight. Lysophospholipid and amylolytic enzyme presented the best performance in average daily gain, followed by protected methionine, control and protected lysine. Lysophospholipid treatment presented higher daily feed intake rates than protected lysine and protected methionine. Feed conversion was lower for amylolytic enzyme and higher for control. No changing in carcass traits was reported due to additives. Better performance may be achieved with feedlot lambs fed on diets with the addition of amylolytic enzyme and lysophospholipid at the finishing phase.

Effects of lanthanum on human lymphocytes viability and DNA strand break.

Lanthanum (La) is a rare-earth metal with applications in agriculture, industry, and medicine. Since lanthanides show a broad spectrum of applications there is an increased risk of contamination for humans. We examined the effects of lanthanum in Jurkat cells and human peripheral lymphocytes (HPL), and we found that it was cytotoxic and genotoxic on both cell lines. Additionally, HPL were more sensitive to La treatment than Jurkat cells and necrosis was the pathway by which La induced cytotoxicity. Vitamin E was able to diminish the DNA strand breaks induced suggesting that oxidative stress may be involved in the genotoxic process.