Effects Of Summer Welfare Management On Immune And Antioxidant Functions And Related Physiological And Biochemical Indexes Of Lactating Donkeys

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effects of spraying and fan treatment on immune and antioxidant functions and related physiological and biochemical indexes of lactating female donkeys and foals in summer,and to provide theoretical basis for their application in practical production.Twenty four lactating donkeys with similar age,parturition time,and body weight,and the foals with about the same weight,were randomly divided into 4 treatments with 6 replicates(3 male foals and 3 female foals),and each replicate had a lactating female donkey and a foal.The four treatments were the control group,the spraying group,the fanning group,and the spraying+fanning group,respectively.The test period was 28 days,during which all of the experimental donkeys were feeding the lactation period feed at 7:00 and 14:00 every day,and the donkeys were free to eat and drink.During the experiment,the fans were working in the spraying+fanning group and the fanning group from 11:00 to 17:00 on every day.During this period,the spraying group and the spraying+fanning group were sprayed once an hour,spraying for 2 minutes each time.Experiment 1: The effects of summer welfare management on basal physiological indexes,serum biochemical indexes and hormone indexes of lactating donkeys were studied.The results showed as follows: compared with the control group,the head skin temperature of the female donkeys at 14:00 in the spraying group and spraying+fanning group significantly reduced(P<0.05),the skin temperature of the head,ears and legs of the female donkeys in the fanning group significantly reduced(P<0.05),the rectal temperature of the female donkeys in the fanning group and spraying+fanning group significantly decreased(P<0.05),the respiration rate of the female donkeys in the test groups significantly decreased(P<0.05);the contents of AST and LDH in serum of the female donkeys in the fanning group and the spraying+fanning group significantly decreased(P<0.05),the contents of CRE in serum of the female donkeys in the three test groups significantly decreased(P<0.05);the content of T3,T4,INS and ACTH in serum of the female donkeys in the fanning group and the spraying+fanning group significantly increased(P<0.05);compared with the control group,the content of HSP70 in serum of female donkeys in all test groups was significantly decreased(P<0.05),and the relative expression of HSP70 gene in white blood cells of fanning group and spraying+fanning group was significantly decreased(P<0.05),there was no significant difference in other indexes among treatments(P>0.05).Experiment 2: The effects of summer welfare management on serum immune and antioxidant indexes and gene expression of lactating donkeys were studied.The results showed as follows: compared with the control group,the content of IL-1β in serum of female donkeys in fanning group and fanning + spraying group was significantly decreased(P<0.05),the content of IL-4 was significantly increased(P<0.05),compared with the control group,the relative expression level of IL-1β gene in white blood cells of female donkeys in fan group and fan + spray group was significantly decreased,and the relative expression level of IL-4 gene was significantly increased;the content of Ig A in serum of female donkeys in spraying group was significantly increased(P<0.05),the contents of Ig A and Ig M in serum of female donkeys in fanning group and spraying+fanning group were significantly increased(P<0.05);compared with the control group,the activity of GPx in serum of female donkeys in spraying group was significantly increased,and the activities of GPx,CAT and total T-SOD in serum of female donkeys in fanning group and fanning+spraying group were significantly increased(P<0.05).The content of MDA was significantly decreased(P<0.05);compared with the control group,the relative expression levels of CAT,SOD1,SOD2 and GPx3 genes in white blood cells of female donkeys in fanning group and spraying+fanning group were significantly increased(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in other indexes among(P>0.05).Experiment 3: The effects of welfare management in summer on serum biochemical indexes and hormone indexes of foals were studied.The results showed as follows:compared with that in the control group,the serum activity of ALP,AST and LDH of foals in fanning group and spraying+fanning group significantly reduced(P<0.05),and the serum CRE content in the test groups significantly reduced(P<0.05),serum T4 content in the test groups increased significantly(P<0.05),the serum content of INS and ACTH in the spraying+fanning group significantly increased(P<0.05),the serum HSP70 content of foals in test groups significantly decreased(P<0.05),the relative expression of HSP70 gene in white blood cells of foals in fanning group and spraying+fanning group significantly decreased(P<0.05),but there was no significant difference in other indexes among treatments(P>0.05).Experiment 1: To study the effects of summer welfare management on serum immune and antioxidant indexes and gene expression of foals.The results showed as follows:compared with the control group,serum IL-1β content in test groups significantly decreased(P<0.05),and serum IL-4 level in the fanning group and the spraying+fanning group significantly increased(P<0.05),the relative expression level of IL-1β gene in white blood cells of foals in fanning group and spraying+fanning group significantly decreased,and the relative expression level of IL-4 gene significantly increased.The serum levels of Ig A,Ig G and Ig M in fanning group increased significantly(P<0.05),and the serum Ig A content in spraying group increased significantly(P<0.05);compared with that in the control group,serum GPx activity of foals in fanning group and spraying+fanning group significantly increased(P<0.05),and the MDA content significantly reduced(P<0.05),and the serum activity of CAT and GPx in the test groups significantly increased(P<0.05);compared with those in the control group,the relative expression levels of CAT,GPx,SOD1 and SOD2 genes in white blood cells of foals in fanning group and spraying+fanning group significantly increased(P<0.05),there was no significant difference in other indexes among treatments(P>0.05).In conclusion,spraying and fanning addition in summer can effectively improve the immune and antioxidant functions of lactating donkeys and foals,improve serum biochemical indexes,reduce the production of stress,and enable their physiological functions to play a normal role.