Biomedical subjects

M R Hathaway

Publications and source records attributed to M R Hathaway.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1999

Effect of protein intake during gestation and lactation on the lactational performance of primiparous sows.

The effect of protein intake during gestation and lactation on the lactational performance of primiparous sows was evaluated using 35 Yorkshire x Landrace gilts, allocated to six dietary treatments in a 3 x 2 factorial arrangement. Treatments consisted of three protein levels during gestation, providing approximately 4, 8, and 16 g of lysine/d, and two protein levels (low [L] and high [HI), providing approximately 15 and 45 g of lysine/d, during lactation, respectively. Diets provided similar amounts of ME and all other nutrients. As dietary protein increased during gestation, sows gained more weight and tended to decrease their backfat thickness. There was no gestation x lactation treatment interaction for lactational performance of sows. Feed intake by sows during lactation was usually low but increased (P < .05) with increasing gestation and lactation protein intake and increased linearly (P < .001) as lactation progressed. This linear increase over time was greater (P < .05) in sows fed the H than in sows fed the L protein level. Increased protein intake during lactation reduced (P < .001) 21-d sow weight loss. Milk yield and pig weight gain increased as protein intake increased during gestation (P < .05) and lactation (P < .01). Milk yield did not increase as lactation progressed (P > .05). Pig weight gain increased (P < .05) from wk 1 to 2 of lactation and decreased thereafter. Simple linear regression analysis detected few important relationships between yield of milk components and metabolites or metabolic hormone concentrations. The R2 values for these relationships were < or = .30, except for some relationships between milk component yields and blood urea nitrogen (the range was between .17 and .55). Covariate adjustment for metabolite and metabolic hormone concentrations did not eliminate treatment effects in most cases. This suggests that effects of increased protein intake on milk yield are not fully mediated through metabolite and metabolic hormone concentrations.

Amino Acids↗

PubMed1999

Comparison of insulin-like growth factor-I concentration in mammary secretions and serum of small- and giant-breed dogs.

OBJECTIVE: To determine insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) concentrations in canine mammary secretions and serum during lactation and to compare them between small and giant breeds of dogs. ANIMALS: 7 gestating Beagles and 4 gestating Great Danes. PROCEDURE: Dogs were fed a common nutritionally complete and adequate gestation and lactation diet. Milk samples were collected at postpartum hour 12 and postpartum days 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 after IV oxytocin administration. Two puppies/litter were identified at whelping for collection of blood samples corresponding to the days of milk sample collection plus days 35 and 42. Maternal blood samples were obtained on days 1, 7, and 42 from Beagles and days 1, 7, and 28 from Great Danes and were acid/ethanol extracted and analyzed by use of a radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Maternal serum IGF-I concentration was greater in Great Danes at all sample collection times. Similarly, colostrum from Great Danes contained more IGF-I, compared with that of Beagles (70 ng/ml vs 40 ng/ml, respectively). These values decreased to approximately 10 ng/ml by day 3 in both breeds and remained between 10 and 20 ng/ml for the duration of lactation. Growth rate and serum IGF-I concentration were greater in Great Dane puppies at birth to day 42. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: High IGF-I concentration in colostrum may be biologically important for newborn puppies. Body mass and serum IGF-I concentration are directly correlated in growing Beagle and Great Dane puppies. Serum IGF-I concentration may be an indicator of growth potential in dogs.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

Identification and characteristics of a 37,000 M(r) insulin-like growth factor binding protein in canine serum.

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are potent stimulators of cellular growth and their half-life and biological activity are regulated by specific IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs). Western ligand blots of non-reduced human, bovine, ovine and porcine sera reveal an IGFBP-2 band at approximately 34,000 M(r). However, canine sera appear to contain a unique 37,000 M(r) IGFBP and lack the 34,000 M(r) IGFBP-2 band. In order to identify and characterize the 37,000 M(r) IGFBP, adult canine serum was subjected to non-reducing SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), transferred to nitrocellulose paper, followed by [125I]-IGF-1 ligand blotting or immunoblotting with commercially available IGFBP antibodies. The 37,000 M(r) canine IGFBP reacted with an anti-IGFBP-2 antibody indicating that it is a canine analogue of IGFBP-2. However, the large difference in apparent molecular size indicates that this is a unique molecular form of IGFBP-2. N- or O-glycanase treatment of canine sera did not alter the molecular size of canine IGFBP-2 indicating that it is not a glycosylated variant of the IGFBP. Subjecting canine sera to reducing SDS-PAGE followed by anti-IGFBP-2 western immunoblotting revealed that the actual molecular weight of the canine IGFBP-2 is similar to that of reduced IGFBP-2 from other species indicating similar peptide lengths. Thus, the increased non-reduced size of the canine 37,000 M(r) IGFBP-2 is possibly due to a unique secondary structure.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

Activation state of muscle satellite cells isolated from steers implanted with a combined trenbolone acetate and estradiol implant.

Muscle satellite cells were isolated from seven yearling steers implanted for 31 d with a combined implant that contained 120 mg of trenbolone acetate (TBA) and 24 mg of estradiol (E2) and from seven nonimplanted, control steers. Implanted steers had a 28% greater ADG and a 23% greater feed efficiency than did nonimplanted steers. Implanted steers had increased (P<.001) circulating IGF-I concentrations on d 6, 14, and 31 after implantation, and circulating IGF-I concentrations in control steers remained constant or decreased (P<.05) at these times. Maximum fusion percentage was greater (P< .005) in satellite cell cultures isolated from implanted steers (ISC cultures) than in satellite cell cultures isolated from control steers (NSC cultures) (72.8% vs 54.8%, respectively). Satellite cell cultures isolated from implanted steers (ISC cultures) also contained a greater (P<.001) number of myotube nuclei than did NSC cultures (7,998 nuclei/cm2 vs 5,150 nuclei/cm2, respectively). After 72 h in culture, the number of cells (corrected for plating density) was 43% greater (P<.05) in ISC cultures than in NSC cultures. [3H]Thymidine incorporation rates per 10(5) cells at 24 and 34 h after plating were greater (P<.05) in ISC cultures than in NSC cultures; however, incorporation rates did not differ at 72 h. These data indicate that TBA + E2 implantation may result in an in vivo activation of muscle satellite cell proliferation that can be detected in cell culture. This activation may play an important role in TBA + E2-enhanced muscle growth.

Anabolic Agents↗

PubMed1998

Effect of a combined trenbolone acetate and estradiol implant on steady-state IGF-I mRNA concentrations in the liver of wethers and the longissimus muscle of steers.

Treatment of lambs (initial BW 28 kg) for 24 d with a combined implant containing 40 mg of trenbolone acetate (TBA) and 8 mg of estradiol (E2) increased ADG 25% (P < .05, n = 8) and feed efficiency 23% (P < .05, n = 2) compared with unimplanted lambs. By d 3 following implantation, sera from wethers implanted with TBA + E2 showed 32% (307 vs 233 ng/mL) increases (P < .001, n = 8) in IGF-I concentration compared with sera from unimplanted wethers. This increase was maintained throughout the entire 24-d study. Steady-state hepatic IGF-I mRNA levels were increased approximately 150% in implanted lambs compared with unimplanted lambs (P < .05, n = 4). These data suggest that liver may be the source of at least part of the increased circulating IGF-I in TBA + E2-implanted sheep. In steers implanted with Revalor-S (120 mg of TBA and 24 mg of E2) for 40 d, the steady-state concentration of IGF-I mRNA in the longissimus muscle was 68% greater than in the longissimus muscle of unimplanted steers (P = .013, n = 4). Consequently, increased local production of IGF-I by muscle tissue may play a role in increasing circulating IGF-I concentrations as well as an autocrine or paracrine role in stimulating muscle growth in steers implanted with Revalor-S.

Anabolic Agents↗

PubMed1996

Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of the porcine insulin-like growth factor binding protein-5 complementary deoxyribonucleic acid.

We report here for the first time the isolation of a cDNA clone containing the open reading frame sequence for porcine insulin-like growth factor binding protein-5 (pIGFBP-5) and the complete deduced amino acid sequence for this porcine IGFBP. The cDNA sequence shares 94%, 90% and 91% identity to its human, mouse and rat counterparts, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequence consists of 252 amino acids and a putative 19 amino acid signal and shares 97%, 96%, and 96% identity to the human, mouse and rat peptides, respectively. The mature peptide contains the 18 conserved cysteines found in all of the IGFBPs. Northern blot analysis of total RNA isolated from porcine heart, muscle and spleen using a 315 base pair cDNA insert derived from the pIGFBP-5 open reading frame sequence revealed a single mRNA transcript of 6.0 kilobases.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1996

Stimulation of circulating insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBP) due to administration of a combined trenbolone acetate and estradiol implant in feedlot cattle.

Objectives of this study were to analyze alterations in circulating IGF-I and insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP) concentrations due to administration of a combined trenbolone acetate (TBA) and estradiol (E2) implant. This study was part of a larger serial slaughter study in which 64 large-framed (394.1 kg) crossbred steers were randomly assigned to one of four pens. Pens were assigned to one of two treatments: implanted (120 mg of TBA and 24 mg of E2) and nonimplanted. After d 2, 24 steers/treatment remained on the study. These steers were assigned to one of three serial slaughter dates (d 40, 115, and 143). Blood samples were obtained on d 0, 2, 21, 40, 115, and 143 from remaining steers. Serum was harvested and analyzed for IGF-I, IGFBP, and mitogenic activity. Glycyl-glycine (GG) extraction of serum was performed to reduce IGFBP interference in the IGF-I RIA. Implantation with TBA+E2 interference in the IGF-I RIA. Implantation with TBA+E2 increased (P < .001) circulating IGF-I concentrations during the period from d 0 to d 40. On d 21 and 40, steers implanted with TBA+E2 had 16 and 22%, respectively, greater (P < .001) circulating IGF-I concentrations than nonimplanted steers. For steers in the study for at least 115 d, TBA+E2 increased (P < .05) IGF-I concentrations 9, 13, and 19% on d 21, 40, and 115, respectively, compared with nonimplanted steers. Implantation with TBA+E2 resulted in greater (P < .05) serum concentration of a 49/39-kDa IGFBP (IGFBP-3) on d 21 and 40 after implantation. Sera from steers implanted with TBA+E2 stimulated proliferation of cultured muscle satellite cells to a greater extent (P < .05) than did sera from nonimplanted steers on d 21, 40, 115, and 143 after implantation. In summary, TBA+E2 increased serum concentrations of both IGF-I and IGFBP-3. Additionally, implantation increased mitogenic activity of sera from implanted as compared to nonimplanted steers. These alterations may be partially responsible for the positive effects of TBA+E2 implants on feedlot performance and rate of protein accretion in steers.

Anabolic Agents↗

PubMed1996

Cultured porcine myogenic cells produce insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) and transforming growth factor beta-1 stimulates IGFBP-3 production.

Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBP) may act locally as autocrine or paracrine regulators of insulin-like growth factor activity in specific tissues such as muscle. Although secretion of IGFBP by cultured myogenic cell lines has been examined, little is known about secretion of IGFBP by primary myogenic cell cultures. This may be because primary myogenic cultures contain non-muscle cells (fibroblasts) that complicate interpretation of IGFBP determinations. We have circumvented this problem by subculturing nonfusing cells from extensively fused porcine myogenic cultures and comparing the IGFBP production of these nonfusing, porcine muscle-derived cells with that of primary porcine myogenic cell cultures. Immunoprecipitation with specific antibodies and 125I-IGF-I ligand blot analysis showed that myogenic cultures secreted IGFBP-3 (doublet band, 43 kDa and 39 kDa), IGFBP-2 (34 kDa), IGFBP-4 (30 and 24 kDa), and IGFBP-5 (30 and 28 kDa). Muscle-derived fibroblasts secreted no detectable IGFBP-3 but approximately 10 times more IGFBP-2 than did myogenic cell cultures. Treatment of myogenic cultures for 24 h with transforming growth factor (TGF) beta-1 caused a concentration-dependent increase in IGFBP-3 secretion with a maximum 1.5-fold increase occurring at .5 ng of TGF beta-1/mL. In contrast, TGF beta-1 treatment did not stimulate detectable IGFBP-3 secretion by muscle-derived fibroblast cultures. Northern analysis of total RNA using a porcine IGFBP-3 probe revealed that TGF beta-1 treatment resulted in a fourfold increase in the steady-state level of IGFBP-3 mRNA in myogenic cultures. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 mRNA was not detectable in fibroblast cultures either before or after TGF beta-1 treatment. This is the first report of IGFBP-3 secretion by cultured myogenic cells.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

Serum insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) concentrations are increased in pigs fed antimicrobials.

The effect of antimicrobial supplementation on the sera concentrations of IGF-I was determined in crossbred weanling pigs. Pigs were allotted by weight, litter, and sex to either a control diet or a diet supplemented with ASP-250 (22.7 ppm of chlortetracycline, 22.7 ppm of sulfamethazine, and 11.4 ppm of penicillin) for 5 wk. The diets contained 21.8% crude protein and 1.15% lysine. Growth performance data were collected weekly. Insulin-like growth factor I and insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP) analyses were performed on blood samples that were drawn during the final week of the trial. Feeding ASP-250 to young pigs increased their sera IGF-I concentrations by 24.8% (P < .001). A 59% increase in sera IGFBP-3 levels also was observed. The pigs fed ASP-250 had a 26% increase in average daily gain (P < .01), a 6.7% improvement in gain:feed ratio (P < .05), and a 18.5% increase in feed consumption (P < .01) compared with pigs fed the control diet. Increased serum IGF-I concentrations with antimicrobial feeding may be involved in the enhanced growth performance observed.

Animal Feed↗

PubMed1994

Comparison of the effectiveness of various procedures for reducing or eliminating insulin-like growth factor-binding protein interference with insulin-like growth factor-I radioimmunoassays on porcine sera.

We have examined the efficacy of various methods for reducing the interference of insulin-like growth factor-binding proteins (IGFBPs) with insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) radioimmunoassays (RIAs) run on porcine sera. Acid-ethanol (AE) extraction, AE extraction followed by cryoprecipitation, glycyl-glycine (GG) extraction, GG extraction followed by Sephadex G-50 chromatography in 1 mol acetic acid/l (GG/G-50), and Sep-Pak chromatography were analysed. To provide a range of IGF-I and IGFBP levels, sera obtained from control, hypophysectomized, diabetic and somatotrophin-treated pigs were used. Recoveries of IGF-I added to sera prior to treatments other than Sep-Pak chromatography ranged from 85 to 105% and were not significantly different. In contrast, Sep-Pak chromatography gave extremely variable recoveries. 125I-Labelled IGF-I ligand blotting showed that GG extraction followed by acid G-50 chromatography was by far the most effective method of removing or inactivating IGFBPs in porcine sera. Consequently, this procedure was used as a standard against which to compare other extraction procedures. GG extraction alone removed or inactivated low molecular weight binding proteins but appeared to have little effect on IGFBP-3. AE extraction reduced the level of IGFBP-3 but had little effect on lower molecular weight binding proteins. Even though none of the tested procedures completely removed or inactivated the binding proteins, all samples yielded IGF-I displacement curves that were parallel to that obtained for IGF-I standard. Despite yielding parallel displacement curves, sera extracted by various methods gave dramatically different apparent IGF-I levels when subjected to IGF-I RIA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Transforming growth factor beta-1 facilitates establishing clonal populations of ovine muscle satellite cells.

Myogenic cells isolated from lamb fetuses (approximately mid-gestation) exhibited a concentration-dependent decrease in myogenic cell proliferation in response to transforming growth factor (TGF) beta-1 (P < .001). Half-maximal inhibition of proliferation occurred at approximately .05 ng of TGF beta-1/mL and maximal inhibition of proliferation occurred at approximately .1 ng of TGF beta-1/mL. The specificity of this inhibition was confirmed by neutralization of the activity following exposure to a TGF beta antibody. The TGF beta-1 also suppressed proliferation of ovine satellite cells isolated from 5-d-old lambs (P < .0035), but to a lesser extent than observed for embryonic cells. In contrast, TGF beta-1 did not significantly suppress serum-stimulated proliferation of ovine satellite cells isolated from 30- or 150-d-old lambs. Similarly, TGF beta-1 did not suppress proliferation of skeletal muscle fibroblast-like cells isolated from either fetal lambs or 150-d-old lambs. In fact, proliferation of fibroblast-like cells derived from embryonic ovine muscle was enhanced by exposure to TGF beta-1 at all levels tested; however, a concentration-dependent response was not observed. Media transfer experiments showed that conditioning of culture media by postnatally derived cells did not render TGF beta-1 inactive. The studies described in this manuscript suggest that sensitivity of ovine myogenic cells to the antiproliferative effect of TGF-beta may vary with the stage of development.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aging↗

PubMed1991

Effect of transforming growth factor beta-1 on ovine satellite cell proliferation and fusion.

We have evaluated the effect of transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF beta-1) on proliferation and fusion of cultured ovine satellite cells isolated from 5-month-old wether lambs. The isolation and culture protocols were validated by clonal analysis of the original cell preparation and assessment of proliferation and fusion of control cultures. Approximately 85% of the original cells isolated were myogenic as assessed by clonal analysis. The ovine cells doubled approximately every 18 hours during their exponential growth period and achieved a maximum percent fusion of 39.5% after 144 hours in culture. TGF beta-1 inhibited fusion of these cells in a dose-dependent manner with half-maximal inhibition occurring at .08 ng/ml. Maximal inhibition (95% suppression) occurred between .1 and .5 ng/ml. TGF Beta-1 (.05-3.0 ng/ml) did not inhibit proliferation of cultured ovine satellite cells in serum-containing medium or in serum-free defined medium. In contrast, TGF beta-1 did significantly suppress serum-stimulated proliferation of either porcine or bovine satellite cells that were isolated by using a procedure identical to that used to isolate the ovine satellite cells. Thus, proliferation of ovine satellite cells appears to respond differently to TGF beta-1 than does proliferation of either porcine or bovine satellite cells.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Isolation and culture of fetal porcine myogenic cells and the effect of insulin, IGF-I, and sera on protein turnover in porcine myotube cultures.

Porcine myogenic cells isolated from 50 to 55-d porcine fetuses were frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen until they were needed to establish cultures. Approximately 75.8 +/- .59% of the clonal cultures established from these frozen stocks produced myotubes and 60.8 +/- 2.3% of the nuclei in differentiated mass cultures were in myotubes. Differentiated cultures contained higher levels of creatine phosphokinase activity than undifferentiated cultures. Additionally, differentiated cultures incorporated [35S]methionine into putative myosin heavy chain, alpha-actinin, and actin more rapidly than did undifferentiated cultures. Insulin, insulin-like growth factor I, and sera stimulated total protein synthesis rate and decreased total protein degradation rate in myotube cultures. Based on our initial characterization, we believe that we have developed an effective and practical procedure for isolating and culturing fetal porcine myogenic cells.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Myogenic cell proliferation and differentiation.

It is generally thought that growth factors play a major role in regulating proliferation and differentiation of myogenic cells. Cell culture studies indicate that of the known growth factors, the fibroblast growth factors, the transforming growth factor beta, and the insulin-like growth factor families play the most significant roles in this process. The fibroblast growth factors stimulate proliferation and inhibit differentiation of most cultured myogenic cells. Insulin-like growth factors also stimulate proliferation of myogenic cells, but, in contrast to the fibroblast growth factors, the insulin-like growth factors also stimulate differentiation. Transforming growth factor beta inhibits differentiation of cultured myogenic cells. There are conflicting reports as to its effect on proliferation. The combined effects of these growth factors in vivo may play a major role in determining the rate of proliferation and differentiation of muscle tissue.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Effect of transforming growth factor beta on proliferation of L6 and embryonic porcine myogenic cells.

We have examined the effect of Transforming Growth Factor (TGF) beta on proliferation of L6 and embryonic porcine myogenic cells. Proliferation of L6 cells was suppressed by both TGF beta-1 and TGF beta-2 in a dose-dependent manner. Half-maximal suppression of proliferation occurred at .036 ng TGF beta-1/ml and .06 ng TGF beta-2/ml. Maximal inhibition (60% suppression of proliferation for TGF beta-1 and 52% for TGF beta-2) occurred between .1 and .3 ng/ml for each growth factor. Suppression of proliferation was completely abolished in the presence of an anti-TGF beta antibody that inhibited the biological activity of TGF beta-1 and TGF beta-2. When we evaluated the effect of TGF beta-1 on proliferation of embryonic porcine myogenic cells we obtained results which were very similar to those obtained for L6 cells. Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I stimulated proliferation of L6 cells in a dose-dependent manner in serum-free, defined medium. However as little as .02 ng TGF beta-1/ml detectably suppressed this stimulation and .3 ng TGF beta-1/ml caused a 60% reduction in cell number in cultures treated with 30 ng IGF-l/ml. Thus TGF beta-1 significantly suppressed IGF-I-stimulated proliferation of L6 cells.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

In vitro muscle cell proliferation and protein turnover as affected by serum from pigs fed antimicrobials.

The effect of antimicrobial supplementation of pigs on the capacity of their sera to influence proliferation and protein turnover in cultured muscle cells was evaluated. Mitogenic activity of sera increased when pigs were fed ASP250 (P less than .005) or carbadox (P less than .001), whereas the mitogenic activity of serum from pigs receiving the basal diet remained unchanged (P = .5). Additionally, sera from ASP250-fed pigs significantly decreased (P less than .001) total cellular protein degradation compared with sera obtained from the same pigs prior to supplementation. Neither ASP250 nor carbadox stimulated proliferation of myogenic cells when added to the culture media. Inclusion of ASP250 in swine diets altered the composition of their sera in a way that stimulated muscle cell proliferation and reduced the rate of protein degradation in cultured myogenic cells. Likewise, the inclusion of carbadox in swine diets increased the ability of their sera to stimulate cultured muscle cell proliferation.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Antimicrobial supplementation of growing pigs: the effect of porcine sera fractions on in vitro muscle cell proliferation.

Sera obtained from pigs before and after subtherapeutic levels of ASP250 supplementation (pre and post serum pools) have been subjected to comparative fractionation by using gel filtration and affinity chromatography on immobilized Cibacron Blue F3G-A. Comparable serum fractions obtained from pre- and post-ASP250 blood sera were assayed in muscle cell culture bioassays designed to measure their effect on proliferation. Pre- and post-ASP250 sera were subjected to gel filtration and divided into the following fractions: fraction 1, Kav less than .17; fraction 2, Kav = .17 to .41; fraction 3, Kav = .41 to .59. Post-ASP250 fractions 2 and 3 increased proliferation rate in cultured muscle cells to a greater extent than comparable pre-ASP250 fractions (P less than .001). Chromatography of fraction 3 on immobilized Cibacron Blue F3G-A showed that both pre- and post-ASP250 fraction 3 contained a putative inhibitor of myogenic cell proliferation as well as mitogenic factors. However, negative growth factor activity was greater in pre-ASP250 fraction 3 than in post-ASP250 fraction 3 (P less than .05). Additionally, positive growth factor activity was lower in pre-ASP250 fraction 3 than in post-ASP250 fraction 3 (P less than .05). These data suggest that levels and(or) activities of both positive and negative muscle growth factors in serum may be altered by the addition of antimicrobials to the diets of growing pigs.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Alterations in postmortem degradation of myofibrillar proteins in muscle of lambs fed a beta-adrenergic agonist.

Dietary administration of 4 ppm of the beta-agonist L-644,969 (Merck Sharpe and Dohme Research Laboratories) to finishing lambs induced a decrease (10 to 14%, P less than .05) in extractable calpain I activity in the longissimus muscle (LD) at death (d 0). At 4 d postmortem (d 4), extractable calpain I levels in the LD of both control and treated lambs were reduced (P less than .001) from those present at d 0, but the extractable activity in the LD was reduced to a greater extent in control than in treated lambs. Calpain II activity was increased 42% (P less than .005) in LD of treated lambs; however, no significant differences were observed between d 0 and d 4 calpain II activity within treated or control LD samples (P greater than .1). Calpastatin activity was higher in the LD of treated lambs (74% on d 0, P less than .001 and 430% on d 4, P less than .001) than in the LD of control lambs. Measurable cathepsin B activity was decreased (29% on d 0, P less than .05) and measurable cathepsin H activity was increased (10% on d 0, P less than .05 and 10% on d 4, P less than .05) in the LD of treated lambs compared with controls. On d 2, 4 and 6 postmortem, degradation in myofibrils isolated from the LD was lower for treated than for control lambs. Warner-Bratzler shear values for loin chops from treated lambs were higher on both d 3 (111%) and 6 (108%) postmortem than for chops from control lambs (P less than .001). L-644,969-induced decreases in muscle proteolytic capacity may limit postmortem myofibril degradation and contribute to the reduced tenderness observed. This decreased proteolytic capacity may contribute to increased muscularity of L-644,969-treated lambs.

Adrenergic beta-Agonists↗