title: Increased body weight via injecting myogenic expression growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) plasmid DNA into sheep.
abstract: The ectopic expression of a sheep growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) from muscle tissues, using a myogenic plasmid expression vector pM-GHRH, has been shown to result in enhanced animal growth. Animal injected with pM-GHRH alone exhibited a daily weight gain rate of 0.84+/-0.02%/d (p < 0.05), while that of the control animal was only 0.73+/-0.04%/d. A more significant growth enhancement was observed in the group treated with pM-GHRH plus 0.25% bupivacaine. The animal displayed a daily weight gain rate of 0.87+/-0.03%/d (p<0.01). In addition, the group treated by pM-GHRH and bupivacaine had higher levels of growth hormone (GH) in their blood (1.18+/-0.33 ng/mL) compared with the group treated by pM-GHRH vector alone (p < 0.05). Evaluation of body composition by dissection and histochemical analysis indicated a significant increase in bulk with no organomegaly or associated pathology. PCR analysis demonstrated that there was little plasmid residue detected in the pM-GHRH treated sheep.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Q Y
authors.initials: QY
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Z Q
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Z Q
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Q F
authors.initials: QF
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001835:Body Weight; D002045:Bupivacaine / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques / Q000662:veterinary*; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013007:Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics* / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009132:Muscles / Q000737:chemistry; D010957:Plasmids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012756:Sheep / Q000254:growth & development*; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D013007:Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone; D002045:Bupivacaine