Use of Certain Compounds in Livestock Food as Growth Promotants for Better Feed Utilization and Improved Carcass Composition

This invention relates to a method of improving feed utilization and carcass composition by livestock which comprises the incorporation in the food or drinking water furnished to said livestock of from 0.01 to 100 parts per million of at least one compound selected from the group described in Table A. More specifically, it comprises a method of improving feed utilization and carcass composition in which the compounds of structures I, IV and IX are used. More specifically also, it relates to animal feed compositions for administration to livestock which comprises from 0.01 to 100 parts per million of a compound listed in Table A especially compounds I, IV and IX. The invention also relates to ruminants as slow release rumen boluses releasing doses of from 0.1 to 100 mg per head per day of at least one compound selected from the group listed in Table A especially compounds I, IV and IX. The invention also relates to all livestock as systemic implants that provide doses of 0.001 to 10 mg per head per day.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above compounds have one or more asymmetric centers and may exist as separable optical isomers or as equal mixtures of optical isomers which would be optically inactive racemic mixtures. The foregoing structures are presented in planar form, however, all possible optical isomers contained therein are intended to be included within the ambit of this invention.

One skilled in the art will also realize that separated optical isomers may often have different activities, one from the other, and such differences are also to be considered within the instant invention.

As an example of this, it is noted that compound IV has two centers of asymmetry, the first (referred to as ".alpha.") and third (referred to as "1") carbon atoms to the right of the pyridine ring carrying a hydroxy and a methyl substituent respectively. This will give rise to four possible optical isomers when the hydroxy and methyl are individually either above (.beta.) or below (.alpha.) the plane of the molecule. In particular the isomer wherein both the hydroxy and methyl are .beta. (which is more exactly referred to as the .alpha.-R,1R compound) has been found to be significantly more active than the most active of the other isomers.

There is a need in animal husbandry for methods of improving the utilization of food. It is important not only that the growth of the animals be promoted but that the utilization of the food be directed in a different way, namely, to produce less fat and more protein. Some compounds have been described which enhance the utilization of food and change the carcass composition in some species of food livestock. Baker et al. have described (Fed. Proc. 42 No. 4 p. 816, No. 3 p. 668) that a compound called clenbuterol functions in this way. However, while this may be the best such agent published in the scientific literature, clenbuterol is not as active as other compounds in poultry, sheep or swine, especially compared to the compounds used in this invention.

We have found that the compounds listed in Table A are highly active in promoting the utilization of food by livestock intended for human consumption. They provide more growth and better utilization of the feed producing more protein and less fat. As can be seen in Table A the compounds involved differ widely in chemical structure. They also differ drastically from clenbuterol. While some of the active compounds listed in Table A are reported to have .beta.-adrenergic activity, many compounds reported to be .beta.-adrenergic agonists have very little or no growth promoting activity. Thus, accurate prediction of growth promoting activity on the basis of chemical structure or .beta.-adrenergic activity is not possible.

Of a special use in this invention are the three compounds listed in Table A as I, IV and IX. All of these share high activity in all species under consideration. However, all of these compounds of Table A enhance the food utilization in some species by promoting growth and providing more protein and less fat for the same food intake.

Adipose tissue collection and preparation.

Fat was collected from freshly killed animals as follows: epididymal and perirenal fat from 150 to 200 g male rats; perirenal fat from 20 to 25 kg wether lambs, and perirenal and omental fat from 35 to 50 kg gilts. Immediately after collection, fat was placed in a siliconized beaker (all glassware was siliconized) containing Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate solution (KRB; pH 7.4) at 37.degree. C. Fat was transferred to a clean beaker and finely chopped with scissors. Chopped fat was then used as such (whole adipose preparation) or treated with collagenase (isolated adipocytes).

Isolation of adipocytes.

Chopped fat was placed in a shaker containing 70 ml cell dispersion medium (CDM; 5 mM glucose, 0.1% collagenase, 4% bovine serum albumin (BSA), in KRB) and incubated at 37.degree. C. for 1 hour with gentle shaking. Fat was then filtered to remove clumps and washed 4 times with washing medium (WM; 2.5 mM glucose, 1% BSA, in KRB) and 1 time with final suspension medium (FSM; 2.5 mM glucose, 2% essentially fatty acid free BSA, in KRB). Isolated adipocytes were then resuspended in the required amount of FSM (1 ml/flask, 3 flasks/treatment).

Determination of lipolytic activity in adipose tissue or adipocytes.

Whole adipose tissue from the rat (0.3 ml) or isolated adipocytes from sheep or swine (1 ml) were placed in plastic scintillation vials containing FSM (1.7 or 1 ml, respectively) and test compounds, and incubated at 37.degree. C. for 2 hours. Compounds were tested at concentrations of 0.01, 0.05, 0.25 and 1.25 .mu.M. Isoproterenol, at the same concentrations, was used as a positive control. After incubation, media was removed and assayed for glycerol by a fluorometric modification of the method of Wieland (1974. Glycerol UV-method. pp. 1404. In: Bergmeyer (Ed.) Methods of Enzymatic Analysis. Verlag Chemie Weinham, Academic Press, New York).

Determination of anti-lipogenic activity in hepatocytes.

Hepatocytes were isolated from chicken liver using the procedure for adipocytes and incubated for 2 hours at 37.degree. C. in the presence of .sup.14 C acetate and test compounds. Compounds were tested at concentrations of 0.01, 0.05, 0.25 and 1.25 .mu.M. Isoproterenol, at the same concentrations, was used as a positive control. After incubation, 8 ml Doles reagent (isopropanol:hexane:H.sub.2 SO.sub.4, 40:10:1) was added and incubation vials were shaken at room temperature for 30 minutes. Vial contents were poured into 50 ml screw-cap tubes. Vials were then rinsed with 6 ml hexane which was poured into the appropriate 50 ml tube. Tubes were shaken by hand, 10 ml H.sub.2 O was added, and tubes were shaken again. After phase separation, 2 ml of the upper (hexane) phase was removed to scintillation vials. Hexane was evaporated by a gentle air flow and the remaining lipids were resuspended in 10 ml Scinti Verse II. .sup.14 C was counted in a Packard liquid scintillation counter. Data are reported as CPM of .sup.14 C acetate incorporated into total lipids.

Results of in vitro testing.

All nine compounds listed in Table A had significant antilipogenic activity. The three compounds identified as I, IV and IX appear to have five times the antilipogenic activity of isoproterenol and greater than 125 times the antilipogenic activity of clenbuterol in chicken hepatocytes. The nine compounds were tested for lipolytic activity in isolated swine (Table C) and ovine (Table D) adipocytes. All nine compounds significantly stimulated lipolysis in isolated swine or ovine adipocytes. Eight of the nine compounds were significantly more active than clenbuterol in stimulating lipolysis in isolated adipocytes. The lack of activity of clenbuterol in swine adipocytes should especially be noted.

The compounds were also tested (Table E) for lipolytic activity using chopped adipose tissue from rats and all nine compounds were found to be active. While rats are not a target species for the product, they are a good model for testing in vivo.

Eighty intact, male Charles River CD rats, 75-90 g, were housed and maintained on rat chow and water ad libitum. After four days acclimation ten rats per group were randomized by weight to treatment and pen. Compounds to be tested were premixed and added to ground rat chow using doses equivalent to 20 ppm of clenbuterol on a molecular weight basis. It had previously been determined 10 ppm of clenbuterol was the minimum dose needed to give maximum improvements in gain and feed conversion. Therefore, the results of any compound tested should cause responses similar to clenbuterol if the compound has half or more the activity of clenbuterol. The results are summarized in Table F and demonstrate that all nine compounds listed in Table A are capable of improving rate of gain and feed conversion and shifting carcass composition of growing animals from fat toward protein.

The method of this invention is intended to increase the rate of body weight gain and/or feed efficiency and to decrease the carcass fat and increase the carcass protein of livestock such as cattle, sheep, poultry, pigs, etc. The compounds described herein in Table A can be administered in doses of from 0.01 to 100 ppm in feed or drinking water. In addition, they may be administered to ruminants as slow release rumen boluses at doses of 0.1 to 100 mg per head per day or to all livestock as systemic implants providing doses of 0.001 to 10 mg per head per day. The boluses and subcutaneous implants typically are designed to provide for continuous administration of the active growth promoting compound for about 100 days.