Relationships between Plasma L-Carnitine Levels and Genetic Characteristics of Japanese Black Steers-Juniper Publishers
JUNIPER PUBLISHERS - OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL OF DAIRY & VETERINARY SCIENCES Abstract The present study aimed to observe changes in plasma L-carnitine levels in accordance with the growth of two representative strains of steers. Steers were classified into two groups: one group (11 steers) represented beef with fine marbling texture, and the other group (7 steers) was a high-gain group. Calves were separated from their mothers 10 days after birth and then fed with artificial milk. Blood was collected at the beginning of artificial nursing and again when the calves were 30 days old, which was when early weaning was carried out. The levels of L-carnitine in both the blood plasma and artificial milk samples were determined. The L-carnitine contents in artificial milk from two different farms were 47.9mg/L and 87.4mg/L. The difference in L-carnitine contents in the current results might be caused by seasonal variation of L-carnitine in milk as a result of skimmed m...