BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Anim. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fanim.2025.1640542
Differences in longissimus thoracis metabolites in feedlot steers with differing plasma Zn concentration and implant status
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, United States
- 2Iowa State University of Science and Technology College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Ames, United States
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This study examined the role of Zn status on muscle glucose and other metabolites. Angus steers (144; 525±30 kg) with varying plasma Zn concentrations and implant status were used for this secondary experiment. Steers were assigned to implant (IMP) treatments: no implant (NO) or Component TE-200 (TE-200; Elanco, Greenfield, IN) on d 0. Zinc sulfate was supplemented at 0 (analyzed 54 mg Zn/kg DM), 30, or 100 mg Zn/kg DM starting d -60. Steers were fed in two blocks via GrowSafe bunks, and steer was the experimental unit. Jugular blood and longissimus thoracis biopsies were collected d 40 post-implant. Plasma Zn was quantified via ICP-OES and stratified into quintiles by concentration and IMP treatment. Samples (n = 48; 12 low and 12 high from each IMP group) were identified and designated to plasma Zn treatments (PLZN): low (LO, 1.1 mg Zn/L) or high (HI, 1.6 mg Zn/L). Corresponding muscle samples were analyzed via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for non-targeted metabolomics. Data were analyzed using ProcMixed of SAS with fixed effects of PLZN, IMP, BLOCK, and PLZN×IMP. No interactions were noted. β-alanine, 3hydroxybutyric acid, and glycine were greater in HI than LO (P ≤ 0.05), while 3-hydroxybutyric acid, 2,3,4-trihydroxybutyric acid, and glycine were greater in TE200 than NO (P ≤ 0.03). Lactic and malic acids tended to be greater in TE200 than NO (P ≤ 0.10). Although both Zn groups were adequate, greater plasma Zn altered metabolites indicative of enhanced energy metabolism, potentially explaining benefits of Zn supplementation to feedlot cattle.
Keywords: Anabolic implant, Feedlot cattle, Glucose, metabolite, Zinc
Received: 03 Jun 2025; Accepted: 24 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ortner, Smerchek and Hansen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Stephanie Hansen, Iowa State University of Science and Technology College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Ames, United States
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