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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Booneville, Arkansas » Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #384989
Research Project: Sustainable Small Farm and Organic Grass and Forage Production Systems for Livestock and Agroforestry

Location: Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center

Title: Changes in Cytochrome P450 in Katahdin ewes fed endophyte-infected tall fescue seed diets in spring and fall

Author
item ACHARYA, MOHAN - University Of Arkansas
item Burke, Joan
item Wood, Erin
item HUANG, YAN - University Of Arkansas
item MORSE, PALIKA - University Of Arkansas
item COFFEY, KEN - University Of Arkansas
item EDWARDS, J - University Of Tennessee
item ROSENKRANS, CHARLES - Clemson University

Submitted to: Journal of Animal Science
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/1/2021
Publication Date: 5/21/2021
Citation: Acharya, M., Burke, J.M., Wood, E.L., Huang, Y., Morse, P.D., Coffey, K., Edwards, J.L., Rosenkrans, C.F. 2021. Changes in Cytochrome P450 in Katahdin ewes fed endophyte-infected tall fescue seed diets in spring and fall. Journal of Animal Science. 99(Suppl. 2);40-41. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skab096.074.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skab096.074

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Objective was to examine the activity of cytochrome P450 (CYP), a liver enzyme that metabolizes ergot alkaloids which is hindered by this fescue toxin, as an indicator of fescue toxicosis in sheep. In spring and fall, ewes were blocked by age and BW, and randomly assigned to 1 kg/ewe/d of endophyte-infected (E+; 61% of diet in fall, 13% of diet in spring; 0.8 µg/g of ergovaline; and soy hulls, alfalfa pellets, cottonseed hulls, molasses) or non-infected (E-; same proportion of E+/season and same feeds) tall fescue seed supplement (n = 10/diet in each season) for 28 d, plus hay, mineral and water. Ewes were exposed to teaser, d -21 to 0, and intact rams, d 0 (first day of diet) to 30. Rectal temperature (RT), serum concentration of prolactin (using RIA), and CYP were determined every 7–14 d between d 0–28, and pregnancy status on d 56. PromegaTM P450-Glo assay was used to determine CYP from serum. Data were analyzed by using PROC MIXED with repeated measures (SAS). Rectal temperature of E+ compared with E- ewes was elevated on at least one day in fall and spring (diet × season × d, P < 0.001). Serum prolactin was lower in E+ compared with E- ewes (diet × d, P < 0.001) and lower in fall (P < 0.001). CYP was higher in E- ewes on d 28 in fall (diet × season × d, P = 0.008), but otherwise similar between diets, and higher in fall than spring (P < 0.001). There was an unexpected negative correlation between CYP and prolactin (R = -0.24; P < 0.009), but there appears to be a subpopulation of ewes with low prolactin and lower CYP. CYP activity in sera may not be a marker for fescue toxicosis in ewes.