Background: Sika deer (Cervus nippon Temminck, 1838) antler is a highly esteemed tonic renowned for its abundant assortment of polypeptides, polysaccharides, amino acids, and minerals, and is recognized for its multifarious pharmacological properties. However, limited research has been conducted regarding the variation in composition of deer antlers between the upper and basal sections, as well as their pharmacological effects on immunological activity and anti-fatigue in mice. The objective of this study was to conduct a comprehensive analysis on the appearance, chemical composition, and pharmacological effects of different components within sika deer antlers. This investigation aims to elucidate the disparities in quality among various parts of antlers and establish a theoretical foundation for the precise utilization of sika deer antlers.Methods: The contents of protein, amino acids, polysaccharides, phospholipids, minerals and nucleotides in wax, powder, gauze and bone slices were determined by different nutrient assays. Then, 100 mice were randomly divided into 5 groups. The mice in control group were administered 0.3 mL of saline solution per day. The mice in experimental groups were administered 0.3 mL enzymatic hydrolysate of the wax slice, powder slice, gauze slice, bone slice separately per day, continuously for 14 days from the first day. The effect of antler on boosting immunity was evaluated by testing organ indices and assessing immunoglobulin levels by ELISA. Anti-fatigue effects were assessed by a mouse swimming test. Finally, the correlation between composition and pharmacological effects was analysed.Results: The content of each marker substance gradually decreases from the upper to the basal of deer antler. The protein and uracil content in the wax slice were significantly higher than the other three groups (p < 0.05), and the phospholipid and inosine content were strongly significantly higher than the other three groups (p < 0.01). The content of polysaccharides and hypoxanthine in the wax slice group and powder slice group was significantly higher than that in the gauze slice group and bone slice group (p < 0.05). The amino acid content decreases from the upper to the basal section. Among, the content of Glu, Gly, His, and Pro wax slice was significantly higher than the other three groups (p < 0.01). The content of other minerals except Fe and Mg in the wax slice group was significantly higher than the other three groups (p < 0.01), and the content of Fe and Mg in the bone slice was the highest. Additionally, the immune organ index, immunoglobulin, and glycogen contents displayed a significant increase in comparison to both the control group and the other experimental groups (p < 0.05). And the swimming endurance of mice in the wax slice group was significantly prolonged (p < 0.01). The skeletal muscle state of the wax group mice exhibited superior characteristics, characterized by distinct horizontal stripes and tightly arranged muscle fibers. In contrast, the bone group displayed noticeable yet relatively less compact horizontal stripes. Among the organic and inorganic compositions of deer antler, the highest degree of correlation with the content of IgA, IgM, and IgG was found to be protein (r² = 0.999), uracil (r² = 0.987), and inosine (r² = 0.999), respectively. The proteins (r² = 0.997) appear to exert a significant influence on the anti-fatigue effect, while polysaccharides (r² = 0.865) demonstrate the least relevance.Conclusion: These outcomes indicated that the wax slice yielded optimal results among the tested parts and demonstrated the highest efficacy.

The purpose of this experiment is to expand the feed of growing sika deer and to explore the effects on growing sika deer of the spent mushroom substrate of Pleurotus ostreatus (SMS-MP). Twelve immature female growing sika deer were randomly assigned to four groups. The ratios of SMS-MP to replace concentration supplements were 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%, respectively, and the growth performance, feed intake and apparent digestibility, serum biochemical indexes, blood physiological indexes, serum immune globulin and plasma amino acid of growing sika deer were measured. The results of the current study confirmed the applicability of SMS-MP as a feed ingredient in growing sika deer diets. There was no significant change in growth performance and hematology of growing sika deer when the concentrate supplement was replaced with 10–20% SMS-MP. However, replacing 30% of concentrate supplements with SMS-MP in the growing sika deer diet resulted in significantly decreased Hb and HCT levels. It can be concluded that, as a waste resource, adding a small amount of SMS-MP has no significant effect on the growth of sika deer, and at the same time can reduce the consumption of concentrate supplements, thereby improving the economic benefits of sika deer breeding.

At present, spent mushroom substrate (SMS) is a waste resource that is producing a pollution problem in China, and which has some use as animal feed or fertilizer, has not been assessed as a feed for deer. The purpose of this study is to expand the feed of male sika deer and reduce the feeding cost by using the waste resource of SMS. The 10% concentrated supplement was replaced with SMS and the feed intake, apparent digestibility, blood index and velvet production of male sika deer were measured. As the results showed, compared to the control group, the substitution of SMS for 10% of the concentrate supplement decreased the concentration of IgA (p < 0.01), replacing 10% concentrated supplement with SMS of Pleurotus ostreatus (SMS-MP) reduced the intake of organic matter (OMI) and improved the digestibility of ether extract (EE), while replacing 10% concentrated supplement with SMS of Flammulina velutipes (SMS-MF) had no effect on apparent nutrient digestibility, feed intake, velvet antler production, and biochemical indexes. In conclusion, SMS had no effect on serum biochemical indexes and the ratio of the feed weight of the deer supplement to the weight of velvet antler (p > 0.05). At the same time, SMS could reduce the feed consumption and improve the economy by using SMS as a waste resource.

Introduction: Adding antibiotics to animal basal diets can improve growth and production performance. However, the use of antibiotics poses a potential threat to public health safety.Methods: The study was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of mannan oligosaccharides (MOS) on the fur quality, nutrient apparent digestibility, serum immunity, antioxidant status, intestinal morphology, and gut microbiota of fur-growing raccoon dogs. Divide 24 male raccoon dogs (120 ± 5 d) of similar weight (5.01 ± 0.52 kg) into 4 groups randomly. Add 0, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2% MOS to the basal diets of groups C, L, M, and H, respectively.Results: Compared to the C group, the addition of 0.05% and 0.1% MOS in the diet increased the apparent digestibility of crude protein (CP), Underfur length (UL), Guard hair length (GL), immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin G (IgG), and immunoglobulin M (IgM) levels in the serum (p < 0.05); Under the dosage of 0.05 % MOS, the activities of Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) increased (p < 0.05). Compared to the C group, adding 0.05% MOS significantly increased the VH/CD of the duodenum and ileum, while also increasing the VH and CD of the jejunum (p < 0.05). Through Spearman correlation analysis of the gut microbiota, it was found that MOS can improve fur quality by reducing the abundance of Dorea while improving the immune response of raccoon dogs by reducing the abundance of Blautia and Gemmiger.Discussion: In conclusion, MOS can improve the fur quality, serum immunity, antioxidant capacity, and gut microbiota of raccoon dogs. Therefore, MOS has the potential to replace antibiotics.

Introduction: The drawbacks of using antibiotics as feed additives for blue foxes have gradually become apparent; moreover, thymol has wide-spectrum antimicrobial activity and has the potential to replace antibiotics in various animals. However, there are few reports on the effects of thymol on blue foxes.Methods: This study aimed to investigate the effects of different concentrations of thymol on the growth performance, apparent nutrient digestibility, serum biochemical indicators, intestinal morphology, and gut microbiota of blue foxes. Twenty-four male blue foxes (120 ± 5 d) of similar weight (6.05 ± 0.16 kg) were randomly divided into 4 groups. 0, 100, 200, and 300 mg/kg thymol were added to the basal diets of groups C, L, M, and H, respectively.Results: Compared with those in the C group, the addition of 100 mg/kg thymol to the diet significantly increased organic matter (OM) digestibility, crude protein (CP) digestibility, immunoglobulin (Ig) A, IgM, the VH of the duodenum, the CD of the jejunum, the VH of the ileum, and the VH/CD of the ileum (P < 0.05) and strongly significantly increased IgG (P < 0.01). The addition of 200 mg/kg thymol to the diet increased the VH/CD of the duodenum (P < 0.05). The addition of 300 mg/kg thymol to the diet significantly increased the VH and CD of the jejunum (P < 0.05). The addition of 200 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg thymol to the diets increased the final weight (FW) (P < 0.05). Adding 100 mg/kg thymol significantly increased the levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and catalase (CAT) compared with those in the other groups (P < 0.05). 16S rRNA gene detection revealed that thymol can change the abundances of Bifidobacterium, Fusobacterium, Allobaculum, Streptococcus, Megasphaera, and Lactobacillus in the gut.Conclusion: The addition of thymol to diets can increase the abundance of Bifidobacterium, Fusobacterium, and Allobaculum, which may contribute to improving the growth performance of blue foxes.

Sika deer velvet antler is the most important animal nutraceutic in traditional Chinese medicine. Reducing the breeding cost of sika deer by looking for a low-cost diet is the main research direction at present. The purpose of this experiment was to find an alternative diet for sika deer and reduce the cost of the diet by using spent mushroom substrate (SMS) as a concentrate supplement. The apparent digestibility for sika doe and the hematological changes of sika doe and suckling fawn were measured by replacing 10% of the concentrate supplement with SMS of Pleurotus ostreatus (SMS-MP). Compared with the control group, the digestibility of dry matter (DM), total protein (TP), globulin (GLO), and cholesterol (CHOL) of sika doe were significantly decreased (p < 0.05), and glucose (GLU), alanine (Ala), phenylalanine (Phe), and proline (Pro) of sika doe were significantly increased (p < 0.05) after the replacement of SMS-MP. Compared with the control group, the serum GLU of suckling fawn was significantly decreased (p < 0.05) and the phosphatase (ALP) was significantly increased after the replacement of SMS-MP (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the immune globulin and amino acid of suckling fawns between the two groups (p > 0.05). The present findings confirm the applicability of SMS-MP as a sika doe concentrate supplement. At the same time, using SMS, a waste resource, can not only reduce the breeding cost of sika doe, but also make full use of SMS to reduce environmental pollution.