In comparison to monogastric animals, ruminants show some peculiarities in respect to the regulation of mineral homeostasis, which can be regarded as a concerted interplay between gastrointestinal absorption, renal excretion and bone mobilisation to maintain physiological Ca and phosphate (Pi) concentrations in serum. Intestinal absorption of Ca or Pi is mediated by two general mechanisms: paracellular, passive transport dominates when luminal Ca or Pi concentrations are high and transcellular. The contribution of active transport becomes more important when dietary Ca or Pi supply is restricted or the demand increased. Both pathways are modulated directly by dietary interventions, influenced by age and regulated by endocrine factors such as 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. Similar transport processes are observed in the kidney. After filtration, Ca and Pi are resorbed along the nephron. However, as urinary Ca and Pi excretion is very low in ruminants, the regulation of these renal pathways differs from that described for monogastric species, too. Furthermore, salivary secretion, as part of endogenous Pi recycling, and bone mobilisation participate in the maintenance of Ca and Pi homeostasis in ruminants. Saliva contains large amounts of Pi for buffering rumen pH and to ensure optimal conditions for the rumen microbiome. The skeleton is a major reservoir of Ca and Pi to compensate for discrepancies between demand and uptake. But alterations of the regulation of mineral homeostasis induced by other dietary factors such as a low protein diet were observed in growing ruminants. In addition, metabolic changes, for example, at the onset of lactation have pronounced effects on gastrointestinal mineral transport processes in some ruminant species. As disturbances of mineral homeostasis do not only increase the risk of the animals to develop other diseases, but are also associated with protein and energy metabolism, further research is needed to improve our knowledge of its complex regulation.

Ruminants are very capable of adapting their N homeostasis to a reduced dietary N intake. However, the limits of this physiological adaptation are still unknown. The aim of the present study was to determine the quantity of dietary N intake at which the needs of the animal are still satisfied. A study was performed in young White Saanen goats under conditions of dietary N reduction. Different semisynthetic diets with 19 to 7% CP were fed. Urea transport rates across the rumen epithelium from the blood into the ruminal fluid were quantified by Ussing chamber experiments. Reduced N intake increased urea transport rates across the mucosa, which could be inhibited by phloretin. The role of parietal urease in driving urea transfer across the epithelium was negligible because its activity was inhibited by antibiotics during in vitro incubations of the epithelium. Concentrations of ammonia in the ruminal fluid were decreased by reducing dietary N intake, accompanied by diminished urease activity at the smallest dietary N intake. Over the range of plasma urea concentrations observed in the different feeding groups, salivary urea concentrations were 73% of plasma urea concentrations. By plotting plasma urea concentrations against serosal to mucosal urea flux rates, a threshold at 1.75 mmol of urea/L of plasma could be assessed, below which urea flux was strongly increased. This indicates that rumen urea transfer could be stimulated by decreased plasma urea concentrations via unknown mechanisms. The physiological relevance of this adaptation of the rumen epithelium is that it is considered a central mechanism in the N homeostasis of growing goats under reduced N intake. Copyright © 2010. American Society of Animal Science .

In small ruminants, the renal excretion of calcium (Ca) and phosphate (P_i) is not modulated in response to dietary Ca restriction. Although this lack of adaptation was observed in both sheep and goats, differences in renal function between these species cannot be excluded. Recent studies demonstrated that compared with sheep, goats have a greater ability to compensate for challenges to Ca homeostasis, probably due to a more pronounced increase in calcitriol production. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the effect of 1) dietary Ca restriction, 2) administration of calcitriol, and 3) lactation on Ca and P_i transport mechanisms and receptors as well as enzymes involved in vitamin D metabolism in renal tissues of sheep and goats. Whereas RNA expression of renal transient receptor potential vanilloid channel type 5 was unaffected by changes in dietary Ca content, a significant stimulation was observed with administration of calcitriol in both sheep (P < 0.001) and goats (P < 0.01). Calbindin-D28K was downregulated during dietary Ca restriction in goats (P < 0.05). Expression of the sodium/Ca exchanger type 1 was decreased by low Ca intake in sheep (P < 0.05) and upregulated by calcitriol treatment in goats (P < 0.05). A significant reduction in RNA expression of the cytosolic and the basolateral Ca transporting proteins was also demonstrated for lactating goats in comparison to dried-off animals. Species differences were found for vitamin D receptor expression, which was stimulated by calcitriol treatment in sheep (P < 0.01) but not in goats. As expected, expression of 1α-hydroxylase was upregulated by dietary Ca restriction (P < 0.001; P < 0.05) and inhibited by exogenous calcitriol (P < 001; P < 0.05) in both sheep and goats. However, whereas 24-hydroxylase expression was stimulated to the same extent by calcitriol treatment in sheep, irrespective of the diet (P < 0.001), a modulatory effect of dietary Ca supply on 24-hydroxylase induction was observed in goats (P < 0.05). Taken together, our results confirm observations that modulation of renal Ca excretion does not contribute to maintenance of Ca homeostasis in these ruminants during restricted dietary supply, unlike responses in monogastric animals. The interesting species differences related to vitamin D metabolism might explain the greater capacity of goats to compensate for challenges of Ca homeostasis and should be further investigated.

Feeding ruminants a reduced N diet is a common approach to reduce N output based on rumino-hepatic circulation. However, a reduction in N intake caused massive changes in Ca and inorganic phosphate (P_i) homoeostasis in goats. Although a single dietary Ca reduction stimulated intestinal Ca absorption in a calcitriol-dependent manner, a concomitant reduction of Ca and N supply led to a decrease in calcitriol, and therefore a modulation of intestinal Ca and P_i absorption. The aim of this study was to examine the potential effects of dietary N or Ca reduction separately on intestinal Ca and P_i transport in young goats. Animals were allocated to a control, N-reduced, Ca-reduced or combined N- and Ca-reduced diet for about 6−8 weeks, whereby N content was reduced by 25 % compared with recommendations. In Ussing chamber experiments, intestinal Ca flux rates significantly decreased in goats fed a reduced N diet, whereas P_i flux rates were unaffected. In contrast, a dietary Ca reduction stimulated Ca flux rates and decreased P_i flux rates. The combined dietary N and Ca reduction withdrew the stimulating effect of dietary Ca reduction on Ca flux rates. The expression of Ca-transporting proteins decreased with a reduced N diet too, whereas P_i-transporting proteins were unaffected. In conclusion, a dietary N reduction decreased intestinal Ca transport by diminishing Ca-transporting proteins, which became clear during simultaneous N and Ca reduction. Therefore, N supply in young ruminant nutrition is of special concern for intestinal Ca transport.