Giuseppe Bertoni

Catholic University of the Sacred Heart | UNICATT · Institute of Zootechnics

Cassava is a mainstay crop for food security in Africa, its tubers being a large source of carbohydrates for the human diet. In some regions (e.g., the Democratic Republic of the Congo; DRC), leaves are also consumed as a source of proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Cassava adapts well to a range of soil-climate conditions and requires low inputs, y...

Serum collected from multiparous Holsteins (n = 73) in a previous experiment was used to determine the effect of prepartum plane of energy intake on metabolites related to inflammation and liver function in periparturient cows. Prepartum diets were in a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement over the far-off (d −65 to −26 before expected parturition) and clos...

Ergot alkaloids in endophyte-infected grasses inhibit prolactin secretion and reduce milk production in lactating cows. However, we previously showed that prepartum consumption of infected seed throughout the dry period did not inhibit subsequent milk production and prior exposure to bromocriptine (ergot peptide) actually increased production in th...

Ruminant production has been an essential part of human activities worldwide since ancient times. The expected increase in world population and per capita income, with an increase in the amount and prevalence of animal products in human diet, urbanisation, with a concentration of population in urban areas and an increase in losses in the supply cha...

Ergot alkaloids in endophyte-infected grasses inhibit prolactin secretion and reduce milk production when fed to lactating cows. However, we have shown this effect is temporal in that prepartum consumption of infected seed throughout the dry period does not inhibit subsequent milk production and, in fact, prior exposure to bromocriptine (ergot pept...

Ergot alkaloids in endophyte-infected grasses inhibit prolactin (PRL) secretion and may reduce milk production of cows consuming these grasses. We investigated the effects of consuming endophyte-infected fescue seed during late lactation and the dry period on mammary growth, differentiation, and milk production. Twenty-four multiparous Holstein cow...

Welfare, for an animal, means the possibility to cope with the environment of life and to avoid, as much as possible, pain and suffering. It is obvious that good health is of paramount importance for this objective; nevertheless, not only clinical conditions but also any mild malaise status should be avoided for better results. The relationship bet...

The link between energy availability, turnover of energy substrates and the onset of inflammation in dairy cows is complex and poorly investigated. To clarify this, plasma inflammatory variables were measured in mid-lactating dairy cows allocated to three groups: hyperinsulinemic hypoglycaemic clamp, induced by insulin infusion (HypoG, n = 5); hype...

In poor countries agriculture is practiced for mere subsistence occupying 70-80% of population; then, families have too small amounts of proper foodstuff to avoid malnutrition and to rise their income. Except for emergency, the problem cannot be solved with bringing food from abroad, but it requires a local agricultural development including: incre...

Field crop production has a primary role in ensuring the availability of food for the world population. Global awareness of some critical factors has brought about the need to profoundly revise current agricultural production systems in both developed and developing countries. In fact, agroecosystems are being orientated towards practices that aim...

www.firenze2015.it/orizzonti-per-lo-sviluppo-dellagricoltura-sulla-terra-come-conciliare-la-sicurezza-alimentare-per-luomo-e-la-custodia-del-creato/

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), roughly onethird of food produced for human consumption is lost throughout the Food Supply Chain. This Food Wastage (FWa) could be divided in Food Loss (decrease in mass or in nutritional value of food for human consumption), and Food Waste (food discarded because left...

Surveys carried out in some villages of Democratic Republic of the Congo showed that insect pests are a major cause of food loss for rural populations. Cereal grains are often compromised by pests in the field and during storage. Among cereals cultivated for family consumption in these areas of Africa, mainly maize and rice are both seriously infes...

To verify the potential relevance of pro-inflammatory cytokine (PIC) with periparturi-ent health problems and performances, the changes of plasma interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) have been investigated in 21 Holstein-Friesian cows from 35 d before to 28 d after parturition. The overall PIC concentration was higher during late preg...

KEYWORDS: animal husbandry; animal products; animal sustainability. ABSTRACT Animals have always – since their domestication – represented something useful (sometimes precious) for humans. Despite this there are objections that in the last centuries have become fierce and widespread, especially in the western world. Initially the reasons tended to...

Good health is essential for good performance and the welfare of dairy cows, and nutrition is an important component of good health. Health is influenced by the interaction between the innate adaptive components of the immune system and other factors, such as the local and systemic inflammatory response, which can sometimes be more harmful than use...

The peripartal dairy cow experiences a state of reduced liver function coupled with increased inflammation and oxidative stress. This study evaluated the effect of supplementing basal diets with rumen-protected Met in the form of MetaSmart (MS) or Smartamine M (SM) (both from Adisseo Inc., Antony, France) during the peripartal period on blood and h...

At weaning, piglets are exposed to many stressors, such as separation from the sow, mixing with other litters, end of lactational immunity, and a change in their environment and gut microbiota. The sudden change of feeding regime after weaning causes morphological and histological changes in the small intestine which are critical for the immature d...

Acute acidosis was induced in sheep, and gastrointestinal permeability was assessed by using lactulose as a permeability marker. Metabolism was evaluated by monitoring blood metabolites. Four rams (72.5 ± 4.6 kg BW) were used in a 2×2 change over design experiment. The experimental period lasted 96 hours from -24 h to 72 h. After 24 h of fasting (f...

Using published dairy cattle liver transcriptomics dataset along with novel blood biomarkers of liver function, metabolism, and inflammation we have attempted an integrative systems biology approach applying the classical functional enrichment analysis using DAVID, a newly-developed Dynamic Impact Approach (DIA), and an upstream gene network analys...

Enhancing longevity by reducing involuntary culling and consequently increasing productive life and lifetime production of dairy cows is not only a strategy to improve a farm's profit, but is also related to improved animal welfare. High rates of involuntary culling in dairy cows are currently attributed to fertility problems, mastitis and locomoti...

Previous studies had indicated an active role of bovine forestomachs in the response to alimentary disorders as well as to inflammatory and infectious processes in both the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract and elsewhere. We investigated the potential of bovine forestomachs to receive, elaborate and produce signals and mediators of the innate immune res...

The liver plays a central role in allowing dairy cattle to make a successful transition into lactation. In liver, as in other tissues, extracellular nucleotides and nucleosides trigger cellular responses through adenosine and ATP receptors. Adenosine triphosphate and certain nucleotides serve as signals that can heighten purinergic receptor activat...

The aim of the study was to assess the small intestine permeability by using lactulose as a sugar probe and blood metabolites in sheep after a challenge with repeated indomethacin injections. According to a change-over design, 7 adult sheep (4 males, 3 females) were subjected to 4 intramuscular injections (every 12 h) of saline (Control, CRT=7 anim...

Revisione dei Sistemi Colturali nei Paesi Sviluppati e in Quelli in Via di Sviluppo per l’Intensificazione Sostenibile e la Sicurezza Alimentare

In this study we examined the relationship between cortisol and inflammatory status in early lactating dairy cows after a stimulation test of the adrenal cortex. Twenty-four cows were grouped into quartiles (6 cows per each quartile) in accordance with the liver activity index (based on plasma concentration of negative acute phase proteins in early...

The usefulness of the metabolic profile in dairy cows has been questioned because of poor standardization of procedures, high cost of analysis, and perceived inefficiency of the approach. Composite indices based on multiple variables, namely the Liver Activity Index and the Liver Functionality Index, which consider the pattern of changes of some ne...

A conventional approach in dairy cow nutrition programs during late gestation is to feed moderate-energy diets. The effects of the maternal plane of nutrition on immune function and metabolism in newborn calves are largely unknown. Holstein cows (n = 20) were fed a controlled-energy (CON) diet (1.24 Mcal/kg) for the entire dry period (∼50 d) or the...

This study investigated the effects of the administration of long chain omega-3 fatty acids (ω-3 FA) and acetylsalicylic acid on inflammation, performance and fertility in periparturient dairy cows. Five weeks before calving 26 multiparous dairy cows were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: ω-3 FA (n=9; OM), ω-3 FA and acetylsalicylic acid (n=9...

There is a growing concern about the protein and essential amino acid (AA) balancein transition dairy cows. Our hypothesis was that methionine supplementationwith either Metasmart® (MS) or SmartAmine® (SM) would alleviate inflammationand enhance liver function partly via alterations of transcriptional mechanisms inliver and immunometabolic indices...

The transition period is characterized by frequent inflammatory conditions which are the consequence of disease or tissue damages, and which impair performance and welfare of dairy cows. • Proper management and nutrition during the dry period and early lactation can contribute to the reduction of several inflammatory phenomena, for example decrease...

Animal welfare is an important social construct showing that humans recognise the sentient nature of animals and manage them accordingly; however, because the concept differs depending on individual perceptions of the acceptability of different practices and appropriate endpoint measurements, objective evaluation of an animal’s welfare state is cha...

This study evaluated the effect of feeding a control diet (CON) or a moderate energy diet (overfed, OVE) during the dry period (∼45 d) and a postpartum intramammary lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge on blood metabolic and inflammatory indices, milk production, and hepatic gene expression. A subset of cows (n = 9/diet) in CON (1.34 Mcal/kg of dry m...

The early postpartal period is characterized by marked changes in hormonal, metabolic, andimmune/stress-like conditions all of which may contribute to regulating dry matter intake (DMI) andthe supply of nutrients to mammary gland. Peripartal cows are in negative methionine (M) balancedue to increased requirements of tissues and cells for methylated...

Cows experience some degree of negative energy balance and immunosuppression around parturition, making them vulnerable to metabolic and infectious diseases. The effect of prepartum feeding of diets to meet (control, 1.34 Mcal/kg of dry matter) or exceed (overfed, 1.62 Mcal/kg of dry matter) dietary energy requirements was evaluated during the enti...

Paraoxonase-1 (PON) is an antioxidant enzyme synthesized by liver and mainly associated with high density lipoproteins (HDL). Aim of this study was to investigate the alterations of PON1 activity in plasma (pPON) or bound to HDL (HDL-PON) in relation to inflammatory conditions and physiological stages. Between -30 to +300 days from calving, 9 cows...

Increased disease rates are commonly reported among high-yielding dairy cows in the transition period, extending from 3 weeks before to 3 weeks after calving, and characterized by the occurrence of an inflammatory response in terms of both positive and negative acute phase proteins (APP+ and APP-). To determine the above inflammatory response, the...

The aim of this research was to study the consequences of omega 3 fatty acids (FA) administration around calving on inflammatory response and on productive performances. In this period dairy cows undergo a metabolic challenge, coming with an inflammatory-like status triggering the release of pro-inflammatory mediators (e.g. eicosanoids, cytokines)....

During the transition period, cows are confronted with infectious and inflammatory challenges leading to an acute phase response (APR) marked by increased hepatic synthesis of positive acute phase reactants (+AP) and a decrease in negative acute phase reactants (-AP). The aim of this study was to quantify the APR in 21 high-yielding dairy cows stud...

The main stressors for animals transferred to a new farm are the transport, the regrouping, the change in housing and feeding and in general the unfamiliar environment. This means that relocated animals are exposed to acute as well as chronic stress factors. Several studies have shown that physical and psychological stresses are frequent cause of i...

This paper reports the results of a study that aimed to assess whether liver functionality defined by liver activity index (LAI) is associated with inflammatory and immune parameters in blood and milk. LAI is an index including the average blood levels of albumin, lipoproteins and retinol-binding protein measured three times in the first month of l...

To ascertain the effects of a different feed sequence, which could modify digestion rate and sites as well as metabolic - endocrine status and milk features, 6 lactating dairy cows have received the same diet with a different time of concentrate administration when close to the two daily forage meals: 30’ before or 60’ after them. Cows were tied in...

Six dairy cows received 3 treatments after morning meal, in a double Latin square design. Treatments were ACTH challenge (SYN), hoof trimming (TRIM) and saline (CTR). Measurements included: plasma cortisol and metabolic profile during the 24 h after treatments; the rate of digesta passage, faecal dry matter and pH. Both acute stress situations vs C...

The increase of blood cortisol is a common consequence of the acute stress; this has generally positive effects, despite not completely understood (Sapolsky et al. 2000). However, at least in human beings under chronic stress, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system – responsible of cortisol release – is deregulated, resulting in pathophysiologic...

High yielding dairy cows are particularly vulnerable during the transition period to any event able to stimulate immune system. In contrast, response to these events is easily controlled in other stages of lactation.

To increase the knowledge on blood indices in calves, 47 pure bred and crossbred calves were studied in their first 14 days of life. Blood samples were taken at birth, from mothers and calves before colostrum administration, and till 14th day for metabolic profile determination. At birth, urea, glucose, haptoglobin, Ca, Na, Cl and K of mothers and...

To improve the evaluation of the chronic stress conditions, the adrenal responsiveness to low dose ACTH stimulation, in different lactation stages, was checked in 56 multiparous dairy cows from 2 herds (25-350 days in milk). Cows were retrospectively ranked in 3 stages: early (150 DIM) lactation. Herd B (vs. herd A) showed higher basal cortisol and...

When the issue of animal welfare is under consideration, two opposing views have recently been in contrast with each other: 1) The first can be expressed with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi (cited by Appleby and Hughes, 1997): The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Similar, but more direct, i...

The aim of this review is to summarise the main causes of poor welfare in intensively reared dairy cows. Intensive farming systems are considered, both from a structural and a managerial point of view, for their constraints that may limit animal welfare: possible physical activity; acceptable interactions with humans and other animals; feeding and...

Stress factors are so numerous and so diverse in their strength and duration that the consequences on animal welfare can be quite varied. The first important distinction concerns the characterization of acute and chronic stress conditions. Acute stress is a short-lived negative situation that allows a quick and quite complete recovery of the physio...

The assessment of herd welfare is a scientific discipline that is rapidly developing. The scientific community plays an important role in delivering appropriate, repeatable, valid and feasible models for this assessment. Unfortunately, there are different feelings regarding the welfare of animals and it is imperative for its assessment that certain...

The variations of basal value (before morning feeding at 3-4 days interval) and daily pattern (on 4and 18day of treat- ment with 8 blood collections within 24h) of hormones and metabolites were studied in four dairy cows; 2 in early and 2 in late lactation, which were alternatively injected daily for a period of 21 days with 26.3 mg rbST or saline....

Speaking in terms of the general relationship between nutrition and reproduction, many different aspects are more or less involved depending on geographical areas, species, production systems, technological levels etc. There are deficiency conditions: energy, proteins, vitamins and minerals; but also some excesses (namely protein and few minerals)...

As reminded by many authors, not only bad digestion but also other more or less severe consequences may follow to anomalous digestive processes. Along with fermentative carbohydrate excesses, leading to a higher endotoxins release, the intestinal mucous membrane permeability variation is also important, because it allows bacteria and/or their metab...

The objectives of the present in vivo and in situ trials were to evaluate whether feeding barley grain steeped in lactic acid (LA) would affect rumen fermentation patterns, in situ dry matter (DM) degradation kinetics, and milk production and composition in lactating dairy cows. The in vivo trial involved 8 rumen-fistulated Holstein cows fed once d...

Transition period of high yielding dairy cows is often characterized by serious metabolic problems, often related to an excessive negative energy balance (NEB) status. NEB attenuation at the begin-ning of lactation seems useful to improve both health status and cow’s longevity. CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) is an isomers’ family quoted to reduce m...

EU committee scientific report, group chaired by D.M.Broom. Comprehensive review of dairy cow welfare.

Many apparently healthy cows show marked inflammatory conditions around calving, associated with endocrine and metabolic changes. To prevent the above conditions, a low-dose, oral interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) treatment was carried out on periparturient, multiparous dairy cows. In the first trial, 10 cows received 10 IU of IFN-alpha/kg of BW daily d...

The long chain ω6 and ω3 fatty acids are involved in the regulation of inflammatory processes. To study this relationship, 7 ill (4 with and 3 without mastitis) far from calving and 7 healthy cows were retrospectively selected. On 3 plasma samples (before, during and after inflammation) of each cow, extensive metabolic and fatty acid profiles were...