Effect of Time and Amount of Colostrum Feeding on Physiological Parameters and Health Scores in Surti Buffalo Calves

Background: Timely feeding of adequate colostrum to new born calf is important to ensure transfer of passive immunity to prevent several infections. Present study has evaluated effect of time and amount of colostrum feeding on physiological parameters and health scores in Surti buffalo calves. Methods: Based on amount and time of feeding colostrum after birth, 24 Surti buffalo calves were divided into four groups as T1 (7%; 0-4), T2 (7%; 4-8), T3 (10%; 0-4) and T4 (10%; 4-8). Physiological parameters (twice daily upto day 5) and naval, nasal, eye and faecal scores on day 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 were recorded. Lying behavior was recorded on day 2. Result: Significant (p less than 0.05) interaction between treatment and weeks and nonsignificant effect of treatment was observed. Calves that received colostrum late had significantly (p less than 0.05) higher faecal score as well as evening heart and respiration rate. Calves that received colostrum early had significant (p less than 0.05) higher lying time. Normal scores of naval, nasal, eye and faecal indicated good health of calves. It was concluded that early feeding of colostrum @ 7 or 10% body weight within 4 hours after birth is beneficial for optimum health in buffalo calves.

Evaluation of early feeding through nasogastric tube in patients after cardiovascular surgery at the Hanoi Heart Hospital

Objectives: The goal of the study was to describle and understand the factors related to the nasogastric tube feeding in patients after cardio-vascular surgery. Methods: The study involved 100 consecutive patients who underwent cardio-vascular surgery at Hanoi Heart Hospital from April 1 to August 3, 2019..All subjects underwent assessed with the early feeding through nasogastric tube after 6 hours operation. Main results: The mean age of the patients was 54.4 ± 14.5 years old. The percentage of men were 48%, BMI <18.5 were 25%, used inotropic drug were 46% and sedative were 27%. The incidence of patients with abdominal distension and vomiting were 13%. No complications related to early feeding. Factors related to the residual index were sedation and duration of mechanical ventilation. Conclusion: Early nasogastric tube feeding in patients after cardiac and vascular surgery is safe, feasible and feasible.

Low Incubation Temperature During Late Incubation and Early Feeding Affect Broiler Resilience to Necrotic Enteritis in Later Life

Resilient animals can cope with environmental disturbances in life with minimal loss of function. Resilience can be enhanced by optimizing early-life conditions. In poultry, eggshell temperature (EST) during incubation and early feeding are two early-life conditions that are found to alter neonatal chick quality as well as immune response in later life. However, whether these early-life conditions affect disease resilience of chickens at later ages has never been studied yet. Hence, we studied the effects of EST [(37.8°C (control) or 36.7°C (lower)] during late incubation (≥embryonic days 17–19.5) and feeding strategy after hatch [immediately (early feeding) or 51–54 h delayed (delayed feeding)] on later-life broiler resilience in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. At hatch, 960 broilers of both sexes from a 54-week-old Ross breeder flock were equally divided over 32 pens (eight replicate pens per treatment combination) and grown for 6 weeks. Necrotic enteritis was induced by a single inoculation of Eimeria spp. at d 21 and repeated Clostridium perfringens inoculation (3×/d) during d 21–25. Mortality and body weight (BW) gain were measured daily during d 21–35 as indicators of resilience. Additionally, disease morbidity was assessed (gut lesions, dysbacteriosis, shedding of oocysts, footpad dermatitis, and natural antibody levels in blood). Results showed a lack of interaction between EST and feeding strategy for the vast majority of the variables. A lower EST resulted in lower BW gain at d 5 and 8 post Eimeria inoculation (P = 0.02) and more Eimeria maxima oocysts in feces at d 8 post Eimeria inoculation compared to control EST (P &lt; 0.01). Early feeding tended to lower mortality compared to delayed feeding (P = 0.06), but BW gain was not affected by feeding strategy. Morbidity characteristics were hardly affected by EST or feeding strategy. In conclusion, a few indications were found that a lower EST during late incubation as well as delayed feeding after hatch may each impair later-life resilience to necrotic enteritis. However, these findings were not manifested consistently in all parameters that were measured, and conclusions are drawn with some restraint.

The gut microbiome of extremely preterm infants randomized to the early progression of enteral feeding

Background Early progression of feeding could influence the development of the gut microbiome. Methods We collected fecal samples from extremely preterm infants randomized to receive either early (feeding day 2) or delayed (feeding day 5) feeding progression. After study completion, we compared samples obtained at three different time points (week 1, week 2, and week 3) to determine longitudinal differences in specific taxa between the study groups using unadjusted and adjusted negative binomial and zero-inflated mixed models. Analyses were adjusted for a mode of delivery, breastmilk intake, and exposure to antibiotics. Results We analyzed 137 fecal samples from 51 infants. In unadjusted and adjusted analyses, we did not observe an early transition to higher microbial diversity within samples (i.e., alpha diversity) or significant differences in microbial diversity between samples (i.e., beta diversity) in the early feeding group. Our longitudinal, single-taxon analysis found consistent differences in the genera Lactococcus, Veillonella, and Bilophila between groups. Conclusions Differences in single-taxon analyses independent of the mode of delivery, exposure to antibiotics, and breastmilk feeding suggest potential benefits of early progression of enteral feeding volumes. However, this dietary intervention does not appear to increase the diversity of the gut microbiome in the first 28 days after birth. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02915549. Impact Early progression of enteral feeding volumes with human milk reduces the duration of parenteral nutrition and the need for central venous access among extremely preterm infants. Early progression of enteral feeding leads to single-taxon differences in longitudinal analyses of the gut microbiome, but it does not appear to increase the diversity of the gut microbiome in the first 28 days after birth. Randomization in enteral feeding trials creates appealing opportunities to evaluate the effects of human milk diets on the gut microbiome.

Early neurodevelopmental problems and risk for avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) in the general child population: a Japanese birth cohort study

Background: An overrepresentation of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) has been observed in individuals with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). Previous studies on the association between ARFID and NDDs are limited to cross-sectional data from clinical samples of small size. This study aimed to extend previous research by using prospectively collected data in children from a general population sample. We examined the occurrence and predictive power of early neurodevelopmental problems in 4-7-year-old children with suspected ARFID. Methods: Data were collected via parent-report in 3,728 children born between 2011 and 2014 in Kochi prefecture, a sub-sample of the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS). Neurodevelopmental problems were assessed with several instruments at different time points between 0.5 and 3 years of age as part of the JECS. In an add-on study, ARFID was identified cross-sectionally (between 4 and 7 years of age) using a newly developed screening tool. Results: Circa 3% of children at high risk for NDDs in preschool age screened positive for ARFID between age 4 and 7 years, reflecting a three times increased risk of suspected ARFID. A fifth (20.8%) of children with suspected ARFID had likely NDDs, compared to 8.6% of children without suspected ARFID. Developmental delay trajectories of children with and without suspected ARFID started to divert after the age of 6 months. Only 2.2% of children with early feeding problems later screened positive for ARFID. The inclusion of neurodevelopmental problems improved the prediction of later ARFID. Conclusions: The results mirror the previously observed overrepresentation of NDDs in ARFID populations, although to a weaker extent. In non-clinical populations, early feeding problems are common and rarely develop into ARFID, however, our findings imply that they should be monitored closely in children with high neurodevelopmental risk in order to prevent ARFID.

Early Enteral Feeding Improves Tolerance of Parenteral Nutrition in Preterm Newborns

(1) Background: The tolerance of preterm newborns for the high nutritional intakes given by parenteral nutrition (PN) is still debated because of the risk of metabolic complications. Despite enteral nutrition (EN) being the preferred route of nutrition, an exclusive enteral feeding is not always possible, as in preterm newborns, the gut is immature and less tolerant of EN. We aimed to study the impact of a minimal enteral feeding (MEF) on the possible early metabolic complications of PN in a cohort of preterms with gestational age at birth GA ≤ 29 + 6/7 weeks of postmenstrual age. (2) Methods: We divided the study sample in two cohorts: 1) Late-Feeding (cohort 1), newborns who received MEF starting from the 8th day of age, and (2) Early-Feeding (cohort 2), newborns who received MEF, consisting of the administration of at least 4–5 mL/kg/day by the enteral route, in the first 7 days of age. The primary outcome of the study was the rate of at least one metabolic complication, including hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia, or metabolic acidosis. (3) Results: We enrolled 80 newborns (Late-Feeding cohort 51 vs. Early-Feeding cohort 29). The rate of all metabolic complications was statistically higher in the Late-Feeding cohort compared to the Early-Feeding cohort. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that late administration of MEF negatively influenced the rate of all metabolic complications. (4) Conclusions: Early minimal administration of EN is associated with less frequent PN-related metabolic side effects and a higher rate of survival in critically ill newborns.

Trans-anastomotic tube in esophageal atresia with trachea-esophageal fistula repair: how beneficial are they?

Background: Congenital esophageal atresia with tracheo-esophageal fistula is a common congenital anomaly facing at our centre. There is various proposed anastomotic technique to avoid post-operative complications. In our center, feeding has been conventionally initiated after a contrast esophagogram done at the seventh day post repair. The current study tried to assess the benefits and risks of initiation of early feeding in these patients by placement of a Tran’s anastomotic feeding tube during the repair.Methods: Twenty-five patients had a trans anastomotic feeding tube inserted during trachea esophageal fistula repair and were followed up for different outcomes.Results: Twenty-five patients were operated out of which were sixteen males and nine were females. Early complications of esophageal atresia surgery such as anastomotic leak, surgical site infection, pneumonia and sepsis occur in eight patients. All the complications were managed successfully conservatively, however, one patient died due to anastomotic leak and subsequent septicemia.Conclusions: We conclude that early tube feeding is safe and does not increase risks of anastomotic leaks. It also reduces the need of total parenteral nutrition bringing down the costs of procedure in developing nations.