Animal welfare is a pillar of the ‘food quality concept’. A fundamental issue of farm animal welfare is to keep animals clinically
healthy, limiting diseases and stress, to contribute in producing safe and high-quality food. Animal-based measures are fundamental
to understand the effects of interaction between the animal and its environment. Accurate determination of stress in farm animals is
critical, since a quantitative measure of stress-related parameters is difficult.
C-miRNAs may be considered among the most promising clinical biomarkers for the identification of stress-related disorders in
animals, becoming valid tools to assess welfare overtime in the animal’s life, with the potential to be also additional factors to score
the quality of animals’ products along the food supply chain. In fact, it's demonstrated that the improvement of welfare conditions
decrease animal sickness and the use of antimicrobials as drugs. The results of this project could be useful to manage herd health
and welfare, limiting the use of antimicrobials and consequently prevent public health issue (e.g. antimicrobials resistance) while
reducing costs for producers over the long-term.
The present project aims to investigate the use of c-miRNA as molecular biomarkers to assess quantitatively the stress in beef cattle
during fattening period. To achieve this goal, the study will be carried out in a commercial beef cattle farm in which the stocking
density and the group size represent the stress model able to affect cattle behaviors (e.g. agonistic and lying behaviors). The final
aims of this study are directed to:
1) correlate different stocking density, group size, and consequent cattle behaviours with c-miRNAs pattern
2) define a c-miRNAs signature of beef cattle welfare based on health, behavioural, physiological and performances parameters
(animal weight, meat production traits and quality, etc).
3) identify the molecular role of identified c-miRNAs on skeletal muscle cells (myoblasts and myotubes) in an in vitro bovine satellite
cell model.
The proposal has innovative application potentialities related the identification of new biomarkers (c-miRNAs) to assess cattle
welfare and the use of imaging tools in vivo to define meat production traits important for the product quality such as the marbling
score.
The results of our studies can represent an important step toward a more sustainable livestock production system with the prevention of animal health revising stressing conditions identified through the biomarkers, but also human health with the
production of safe and high quality food. Animal welfare authorities, farmers, consumers, and meat industry are some of the
stakeholders that can benefit of economic and social improvement carry out by this project.
healthy, limiting diseases and stress, to contribute in producing safe and high-quality food. Animal-based measures are fundamental
to understand the effects of interaction between the animal and its environment. Accurate determination of stress in farm animals is
critical, since a quantitative measure of stress-related parameters is difficult.
C-miRNAs may be considered among the most promising clinical biomarkers for the identification of stress-related disorders in
animals, becoming valid tools to assess welfare overtime in the animal’s life, with the potential to be also additional factors to score
the quality of animals’ products along the food supply chain. In fact, it's demonstrated that the improvement of welfare conditions
decrease animal sickness and the use of antimicrobials as drugs. The results of this project could be useful to manage herd health
and welfare, limiting the use of antimicrobials and consequently prevent public health issue (e.g. antimicrobials resistance) while
reducing costs for producers over the long-term.
The present project aims to investigate the use of c-miRNA as molecular biomarkers to assess quantitatively the stress in beef cattle
during fattening period. To achieve this goal, the study will be carried out in a commercial beef cattle farm in which the stocking
density and the group size represent the stress model able to affect cattle behaviors (e.g. agonistic and lying behaviors). The final
aims of this study are directed to:
1) correlate different stocking density, group size, and consequent cattle behaviours with c-miRNAs pattern
2) define a c-miRNAs signature of beef cattle welfare based on health, behavioural, physiological and performances parameters
(animal weight, meat production traits and quality, etc).
3) identify the molecular role of identified c-miRNAs on skeletal muscle cells (myoblasts and myotubes) in an in vitro bovine satellite
cell model.
The proposal has innovative application potentialities related the identification of new biomarkers (c-miRNAs) to assess cattle
welfare and the use of imaging tools in vivo to define meat production traits important for the product quality such as the marbling
score.
The results of our studies can represent an important step toward a more sustainable livestock production system with the prevention of animal health revising stressing conditions identified through the biomarkers, but also human health with the
production of safe and high quality food. Animal welfare authorities, farmers, consumers, and meat industry are some of the
stakeholders that can benefit of economic and social improvement carry out by this project.