Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-qs9v7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-13T17:44:48.588Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of methylthiouracil treatment on the growth and moult of cashmere fibre in goats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

S. M. Rhind  and
S. R. McMillen
S. M. Rhind
Affiliation:
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB9 2QJ
S. R. McMillen
Affiliation:
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB9 2QJ
Get access

Abstract

The effect of long-term treatment of goats with methylthiouracil on the timing, amount and quality of secondary fibre (cashmere) growth and timing of cashmere moult in goats was investigated. From early June, groups of 10 Icelandic × Scottish feral goats were dosed orally each day, for a 15-month period, with 5 mg methylthiouracil per kg live weight in 30 ml water (treated; T) or with water only (control; C). Treatment with methylthiouracil resulted in a significant reduction (P < 0·05) in the proportion of active secondary hair follicles present during March. This was associated with a delayed onset of moult of cashmere in T compared with C goats at both the head (11 March v. 23 February; s.e. 3·33 days; P< 0·05) and mid side (27 March v. 26 February; s.e. 3·58 days; P < 0·001). There was no effect on the time of onset (C, 19 July; T, 19 July; s.e. 5·84 days) or cessation of cashmere fibre growth (C, 9 December; T, 8 December; s.e. 1·69 days) or the mean growth rate (C, 0·473 mm/day; T, 0·451 mm/day; s.e. 0·025) and fibre diameter (C, 16·9 μm; T, 15·4 jim; s.e. 0·266). Wlien present in the fleece, the mean weight and proportion of cashmere was higher in C than in T goats (P < 0·05). It is concluded that methylthiouracil treatment altered secondary follicle activity and the time of onset of the moult of cashmere and that these changes may be a result of reduced triiodothyronine production from thyroxine and associated secondary changes in profiles of insulin and IGF-1.

Keywords

cashmeregoatshair folliclesthyroid
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Science , Volume 62 , Issue 3 , June 1996 , pp. 513 - 520
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bruce, L. A., Atkinson, T., Hutchinson, J. S. M., Shakespear, R. A. and MacRae, J. C. 1991. The measurement of insulin-like growth factor-I in sheep plasma. Journal of Endocrinology 128:R1–R4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dicks, P., Russel, A. J. F. and Lincoln, G. A. 1994. The role of prolactin in the reactivation of hair follicles and the spring moult in goats. Journal of Endocrinology 143:441–448.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dicks, P. and Williams, L. M. 1994. The localisation and characterisation of endocrine and growth factor receptors in cashmere goat skin and hair follicles using in vitro autoradiography. European Fine Fibre Network occasional publication no. 2, pp. 149–157.Google Scholar
Donald, G. E., Langlands, J. P., Bowles, J. E. and Smith, A. J. 1994. Subclinical selenium insufficiency 5. Selenium status and the growth and wool production of sheep supplemented with thyroid hormones. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 34:13–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downes, A. M. and Wallace, A. L. C. 1965. Local effects on wool growth of intradermal injections of hormones. In Biology of the skin and hair growth (ed. Lyne, A. G. and Short, B. F), pp. 679–703. Angus and Robertson, London.Google Scholar
Elsasser, T. H., Rumsey, T. S. and Norton, S. A. 1992. Relationships between the thyroid and somatotropic axes in steers 1: Effects of propylthiouracil-induced hypothyroidism on growth hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1. Domestic Animal Endocrinology 9:261–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, K. A., Schinckel, P. G., Carter, H. B. and Clarke, W. H. 1956. The influence of the thyroid on wool follicle development in the lamb. Australian Journal of Biological Sciences 9:575–584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, K. A., Wallace, A. L. C. and Lindner, H. R. 1965. Hormonal regulation of wool growth. In Biology of the skin and hair growth (ed. Lyne, A. G. and Short, B. F.), pp. 655–677. Angus and Robertson, London.Google Scholar
Follett, B. K. and Potts, C. 1990. Hypothyroidism affects reproductive refractoriness and the seasonal oestrous period in Welsh Mountain ewes. Journal of Endocrinology 127:103–109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harris, P. M., McBride, B. W., Gumsey, M. P., Sinclair, B. R. and Lee, J. 1993. Direct infusion of a variant of insulin-like growth factor-I into the skin of sheep and effects on local blood flow, amino acid utilization and cell replication. Journal of Endocrinology 139:463–472.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaplan, M. M., Pan, M., Gordon, P. R., Lee, J. K. and Gilchrest, B. A. 1988. Human epidermal keratinocytes in culture convert thyroxine to 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine by type II iodothyronine deiodination: a novel endocrine function of the skin. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 66:815–822.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kloren, W. R. L., Norton, B. W. and Waters, M. J. 1993. The seasonal pattern of cashmere and hair growth, and association with growth hormone, prolactin and thyroxine in blood. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 44:1035–1050.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koopmans, L. H. 1981. An introduction to contemporary statistics, pp.331. Duxbury Press.Google Scholar
Lawes Agricultural Trust. 1990. Genstat 5 reference manual. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lincoln, G. A., Klandorf, H. and Anderson, N. 1980. Photoperiodic control of thyroid function and wool and horn growth in rams and the effect of cranial sympathectomy. Endocrinology 107:1543–1548.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McNeilly, A. S. and Andrews, P. 1974. Purification and characterisation of caprine prolactin. Journal of Endocrinology 60:359–367.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacRae, J. C., Bruce, L. A., Hovell, F. D. deB., Hart, I. C., Inkster, J. and Atkinson, T. 1991. Influence of protein nutrition on the response of growing lambs to exogenous bovine growth hormone. Journal of Endocrinology 130:53–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rhind, S. M. and McMillen, S. R. 1995a. Seasonal patterns of secondary fibre growth, moulting and hair follicle activity in Siberian and Icelandic × Scottish feral goats offered high and low levels of dietary protein. Small Ruminant Research 16:69–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhind, S. M. and McMillen, S. R. 1995b. Seasonal changes in systemic hormone profiles and their relationship to patterns of fibre growth and moulting in goats of contrasting genotypes. Australian Journal of Agricultural F. Research 46:1273–1283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rudas, P., Bartha, T., Toth, J. and Frenyo, V. L. 1994. Impaired local deiodination of thyroxine to triiodothyronine in dogs with symmetrical truncal alopecia. Veterinary Research Communications 18:175–182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rumsey, T. S., Bitman, J., Tao, H. and Kozak, A. S. 1985. Changes in plasma concentrations of thyroxine and triiodothyronine in beef steers fed different levels of propylthiouracil. journal of Animal Science 60:1454–1462.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ryder, M. 1960. A study of the coat of the mouflon Ovis musimon with special reference to seasonal change. Proceedings of the Zoological Society 135:387–408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salacinski, P. R. P., McLean, C., Sykes, E. C., Clement-Jones, V. V. and Lowry, P. J. 1981. Iodination of proteins, glycoproteins and peptides using a solid-phase oxidizing agent, 1,3,4,6 Tetrachloro-3, 6-diphenyl glycoluril (Iodogen). Analytical Biochemistry 117:136–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sterling, K. and Lazarus, J. H. 1977. The thyroid and its control. Annual Review of Physiology 39: 349–371.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vandorpe, G., Jackobs, G. F. M. and Kuhn, E. R. 1987. Seasonal changes in the 5'-monodeiodination activity in kidney and skin homogenate s of male Rana ridibunda: relation to plasma thyroxine (T4) and testosterone. General and Comparative endocrinology 68:163–169.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Visser, T. J., Van Overmeeren, E., Fekkes, D., Docter, R. and Hennemann, G. 1979. Inhibition of iodothyronine 5'-deiodinase by thioureylenes; structure-activity relationship. FEBS Letters 103:314–318.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wallace, A. L. C. 1979. The effect of hormones on wool growth. In Physiological and environmental limitations to wool growth (ed. Black, J. L. and Reis, P. J.), pp.257–268. University of New England Publishing Unit, Armidale, Australia.Google Scholar