Effect of corn silage and quantitative feed restriction on growth performance, body measurements, and carcass tissue composition in White Koluda W31 geese.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of corn silage and quantitative feed restriction on BW, ADG, feed conversion, and carcass composition of White Koluda W31 geese. Two diets were fed during the rearing period from 22 to 98 d of age: 1) a commercial diet ad libitum, and 2) restricted amounts of a commercial diet and corn silage ad libitum. Each treatment had 2 replicates of 16 birds each. From 99 to 119 d of age, all birds were fattened with whole oat grain alone. Incorporation of corn silage reduced weight gains and caused statistically significant differences in BW at the end of the rearing period (14 wk, 6,625.0 vs. 6,050.0 g; P < 0.05). Experimental geese showed compensatory growth during the oat fattening period and the BW of geese from both groups was similar at the end of the study (17 wk, 7,675.1 vs. 7,467.9 g; P > 0.05). Daily weight gains varied with week of growth, being lowest at 12 wk of age. Birds fed the commercial diet and corn silage had a significantly longer trunk (29.2 vs. 31.0 cm, P < 0.05) and shorter shanks (10.0 vs. 9.4 cm, P < 0.05) at 8 wk, and significantly smaller chest circumference (54.7 vs. 51.9 cm, P < 0.05) at the end of 14 wk. At the end of oat feeding (17 wk), geese receiving silage had significantly longer trunk and drumstick compared with geese fed commercial diets alone. The carcasses of 17-wk-old experimental geese contained more breast and leg muscles (%), and less skin with subcutaneous fat from breast and legs compared with control birds. Significant differences were only noted between the groups in dressing percentage (65.0 vs. 74.7%, P < 0.05) and proportion of skin with subcutaneous fat from breast (8.9 vs. 7.8%, P < 0.05). Dilution of the diet for young fattening geese with whole-crop corn silage had a positive effect on production economics and carcass composition.

Expression of selected tumor suppressor and oncogenes in endometrium of women with endometriosis.

BACKGROUND: It is becoming increasingly evident that the eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis shows certain genetic alterations which are not found in the endometrium of disease-free women. The aim of the study was to compare the expression level of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) tumor suppressor and oncogene-related genes in the endometrium of women with and without endometriosis as well as in ovarian endometriosis. METHODS: A total of 81 regularly menstruating patients were recruited in the study. We applied the micro fluidic gene array to examine the expression of 15 human tumor suppressor and oncogenes in eutopic endometrium of 40 women with endometriosis and 41 controls without endometriosis. In 14 patients with endometriosis, gene expression was also studied in matched ovarian lesions. We studied the following genes: NF1, RHEB, mTOR, PTEN, TSC1, TSC2, KRAS, S6K1, TP53, EIF4E, LKB1, PIK3CA, BECN1, 4EBP1 and AKT1. Immunohistochemical studies were subsequently performed for selected proteins. RESULTS: Of the 15 studied genes, we found significantly higher levels of oncogene AKT1 (P = 0.006) and tumor suppressor gene 4EBP1 (P = 0.01) mRNAs in the eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis compared with control patients. Immunohistochemistry showed that 4EBP1 and AKT1 proteins were expressed in eutopic endometrium. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that up-regulation of AKT1 and 4EBP1 in eutopic endometrium may be associated with the pathogenesis of endometriosis, but their precise role remains to be established.