title: Morphological Examination and Transcriptomic Profiling To Identify Prednisolone Treatment in Beef Cattle.
abstract: In livestock production corticosteroids are licensed only for therapy; nevertheless, they are often illegally used as growth promoters. The aim of this study was to identify morphological or biomolecular alterations induced by prednisolone (PDN) in experimentally treated beef cattle, because PDN and its metabolites are no longer detectable by LC-MS/MS methods in biological fluids. Moreover, PDN does not induce any histological alterations in the thymus, different from dexamethasone treatments. Therefore, a marker of illicit treatment for this growth promoter could be useful. Eight male Italian Friesian beef cattle were administered prednisolone acetate 30 mg day-1per os for 35 days, and seven beef cattle represented the control group. Six days after drug withdrawal, the animals were slaughtered. Morphological and morphometric modifications were evaluated in the epididymis and testis, whereas transcriptomic changes induced by PDN administration were investigated in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) at different sampling times and in skeletal muscle and testis sampled at slaughtering. In the epididymis, spermatozoa number decreased in PDN-treated animals, and in some cases they were totally absent. Correspondingly, in the testis of treated animals, down-regulation for serine/threonine kinase 11 (STK11) gene expression was detected (p < 0.01). DNA microarray analysis revealed a total of 133 differentially expressed genes in skeletal muscle and testis, and 907 and 1416 in PBMCs after 33 days of treatment and at slaughtering, respectively. Histological investigations on epididymal content could represent a promising marker for PDN treatment in beef cattle and could be used as a screening method to identify animals worthy of further investigation with official methods. Moreover, the clear transcriptomic signature of PDN treatment evidenced in PBMCs supported the possibility of using this matrix to monitor the illicit treatment in vivo during ranching.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Torino , Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca T
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Cannizzo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata e Alimentazione, Università di Padova , Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pegolo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Torino , Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pregel
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Umbria e delle Marche , Via G. Salvemini 1, 06126 Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Manuali
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Umbria e delle Marche , Via G. Salvemini 1, 06126 Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salamida
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Torino , Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Divari
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Torino , Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy.
authors.forename: Frine E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Scaglione
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Torino , Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bollo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Torino , Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy.
authors.forename: Bartolomeo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Biolatti
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata e Alimentazione, Università di Padova , Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bargelloni
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002417:Cattle; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D004822:Epididymis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics; D000069466:Red Meat; D013737:Testis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D011239:Prednisolone; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
keywords: cattle; growth promoters; microarray; morphometry; prednisolone