The aim of the present study was to identify the functional domains of the upstream region of the rabbit whey acidic protein (WAP) gene, which has been used with considerable efficacy to target the expression of several foreign genes to the mammary gland. We have shown that this region exhibits three sites hypersensitive to DNase I digestion in the lactating mammary gland, and that all three si...

To investigate the role of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in the delivery of cholesterol to the mammary gland during pregnancy and lactation, we examined the distribution of radioactivity from (125)I-tyramine cellobiose-LDL injected into the tail vein of female mice at various stages of the reproductive cycle. Changes in the proportion of isotope taken up by the mammary gland largely reflected t...

We have previously reported that neurokinin A (NKA), a tachykinin closely related to substance P, increases the release of prolactin (PRL) from the anterior pituitary gland of male rats, but not from pituitaries of ovariectomized (OVX) female rats. In this study, we evaluated the influence of estrogens in the action of NKA on PRL secretion in female rats. NKA stimulated the in vitro release of ...

Although interleukin-10 (IL-10) is known to contribute to inflammation and pathogenesis in mammalian organs, little is known about its precise role in the mammary gland. We found that IL-10 levels fluctuated during the mouse mammary cycle, showing little expression at the lactation stage and the highest expression at the involution stage. To reveal the effects of IL-10 on involution, expression...

We first sought to clarify the effects of discounted rate, survival rate, and lactation persistency as a component trait of the selection index on net merit, defined as the first five lactation milks and herd life (HL) weighted by 1 and 0.389 (currently used in Japan), respectively, in units of genetic standard deviation. Survival rate increased the relative economic importance of later lactati...

Nutrition has a significant effect on reproduction and lactation in Ruminant. Supply of require nutrient of dairy cows and ewes in early lactation is the main challenges that will be considered, since in most cases the animals facing negative energy balance after calving and the beginning of the period of lactation. Negative energy balance may sometimes result in reduced livestock production an...

Random regression models (RRM) are used for genetic estimations of milk traits in dairy cows. RRM utilize data on traits that are repeated during the time, such as milk trait, which allows of the evaluation of the test day production information. In this study, to estimate genetic parameters for milk production trait, test day records (TDR) were collected from the first lactation of Holstein co...

Nutrition has a significant effect on reproduction and lactation in Ruminant. Supply of require nutrient of dairy cows and ewes in early lactation is the main challenges that will be considered, since in most cases the animals facing negative energy balance after calving and the beginning of the period of lactation. Negative energy balance may sometimes result in reduced livestock production an...

The study aimed to determine factors affecting the dry period length and effect of dry days on milk yield, milk composition and lactation length in the next lactation of dairy cows. Data used for analysis included 7264 lactation records collected from 2012 to 2016 on 4737 Holstein cows raised in 152 herds. The statistical model used to determine the factors influencing the dry period length sho...

Records for daily feed intake during lactation were available for 774 sows with 2,234 litters farrowing from May 2002 to November 2006. Genetic parameters were estimated for whole-oflactation feed intake and feed intake averaged over 5-day periods during lactation. Estimates of heritabilities and the permanent environment of the sow were 0.16±0.05 and 0.18±0.04 for total lactation feed intake a...