Progress 07/01/24 to 06/30/25
Outputs
Target Audience:5. International audience of university colleagues, researchers, students, and industry personnel.? Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The following groups were exposed to the project: 5 graduate students participated in data collection and analyses. 5 undergraduate students participated in data collection and analyses. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results have been disseminated through an abstract, seminars, and demonstrations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Complete all remaining objectives.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective #1 This objective has been completed and a manuscript is currently published. Objective #2 We have conducted 4 repetitions of the 5 for this objective by feeding 150 mg/kg of body weight for 14 days prior to testing/harvest. We have done that because the literature and our data demonstrate NAD+ accumulation peaks at day 14 with no further improvement with additional feeding days. Currently, data indicates: No difference in treatments during performance testing. We hypothesize this is due to behavioral issues encountered during performance testing. This may be due to different genetics utilized for this study. EMG data indicate muscle fiber recruitment declines in the control treatment pigs while it remains stable in NR treated pigs which resulted in NR pigs having greater active muscle fibers during periods 2 to 5 of the performance test. The TFL had smaller median power frequency values compared to the BF and ST, indicating this muscle was more fatigued than the other two muscles during the performance test. Objective #3 This objective has been addressed in 2022's report. Objective #4 We are finishing the final repetition for the 150 mg/kg body weight trial and have seen the following in preliminary analyses: NR treated pigs have greater oxygen consumption rate and met myoglobin reducing ability. NR treated meat has small differences in discoloration scores but this may not result in statistical significance when the full dataset is analyzed. NR treated pigs have numerically greater NAD+ levels in the tensor facia latae on day 7 and 14 of feeding.
Publications
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Alambarrio, D. A., B. K. Morris, R. B. Davis, E. B. Grabarczyk, K. K. Turner, and J. M. Gonzalez. 2025. Development of an alternative protocol to study muscle fatigue. Metabo. 15:54. doi:10.3390/metabo15010054
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Gravely, M. E., H. M. Hennesy, D. A. Alambarrio, O. G. Ellis, X. Xu, A. M. Stelzleni, and J. M. Gonzalez. 2025. Effects of nicotinamide riboside on stressed/fatigued barrow carcass characteristics and loin chop color stability. Meat Sci. 223:109772. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109772
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Zhu, C., L. A. Whitcomb, A. J. Chicco, M. E. Gravely*, H. M. Alcocer*, D. A. Alambarrio*, J. M. Gonzalez, C. L. Smith, M. N. Nair, H. Y. Loh, T. E. Engle, A. Niraula, and C. Zhai. 2025. Nicotinamide riboside supplementation affects postmortem mitochondrial functionality and apoptotic activation. Metabo. 15:31. doi:10.3390/metabo1501003
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Progress 07/01/23 to 06/30/24
Outputs
Target Audience:6. Middle and high school students and teachers.? Changes/Problems: We will increase the amount of NR fed than what was written in the proposal. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The following groups were exposed to the project: 4 graduate students participated in data collection and analyses. 10 undergraduate student participated in data collection and analyses. 1 Japanese student participated in data collection and analyses. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results have been disseminated through an abstract, seminars, and demonstrations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Complete Objective #2 and 4.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective #1 This objective has been completed and a manuscript is currently under review. Objective #2 Two projects were conducted to determine the NAD+ accumulation pattern in the blood and muscle of supplemented barrows. During project #1 barrows were supplemented 0, 30, or 45 mg/kg body weight daily NR for 35 days and blood samples were collected weekly. Results indicated blood NAD+ levels for the 45NR treatment increased and plateaued on day 28 of supplementation. 30NR blood gradually increased until day 35 of supplementation. Oddly, 0NR pig blood NAD+ increased too until day 35 of supplementation and was not different from 30 NR blood level. Interestingly, NAAD (a known metabolite of NR) levels increased in a dose dependent manner and peaked at day 14 of supplementation. This led to the next pilot study conducted. During project #2 barrows were supplemented with 0 or 100 mg/kg body weight NR daily for 28 days. Blood samples were collected weekly and biopsies were collected at Day 0 and 21 of the trial. Blood levels of NAAD peaked at D 14 at this level of supplementation and there appeared to not be an impact on feed intake. Muscle NAAD levels were unaffected by NR supplementation, but NAD+ and NADH levels were greater in NR supplemented muscle. These results lead us to supplement 100 mg/kg NR over 14 days. Objective #3 This objective has been addressed in 2022's report. Objective #4 We conducted one pilot study with the meat harvested with Study #2. No positive effects of NR was seen but that most likely occurred because several CON pigs had increased levels of NAD+ and NADH. This has helped us look at this part of the project in a different light that we will pursue the final year of the project.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Alcocer, H. M., M. E. Gravely, D. A. Alambarrio, S. R. Brannen, S. A. DeVane, A. M. Stelzleni, K. K. Turner, L. K. Morgan, L. A. Motsinger, and J. M. Gonzalez. 2023. Effects of nicotinamide riboside dose on finishing barrow mitochondrial DNA expression and fatigue onset. 69th Int. Cong. Meat Sci. Tech.
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Progress 07/01/22 to 06/30/23
Outputs
Target Audience:This year this project reached the following audiences: 1. Pig industry personnel. 2. Pork harvest and fabrication facilities. 3. Nicotinamide riboside manufacturing company. 4. University colleagues and researchers outside of the University of Georgia. 5. International audience of university colleagues, researchers, students, and industry personnel. 6. Middle and high school students and teachers. Changes/Problems:Only major change planned at this point: We also feel that the amount of stress we put on the pigs will negate the positive effects of NR on meat quality. Therefore, we will be going back to the 3-day recovery period before harvesting pigs. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The following groups were exposed to the project: 4 graduate students participated in data collection and analyses. Twenty-one high school students from Cambridge High School, Georgia and their teachers were exposed to the project and technologies used to collect data. 1 undergraduate student participated in data collection and analysis. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results have been disseminated through an abstract, seminars, and demonstrations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Complete pilot NR dose trial. Pick an optimal NR dose and begin the trial to evaluate Objective #2.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective #1 The project described in the proposal was completed March 2022. Data were completely analyzed and further analysis was conducted on banked muscle samples. Results indicate: Pigs supplemented 15, 45, and 45-drench mg/kg/d nicotinamide riboside moved around the performance track longer than control pigs. When considering time, pigs supplemented 45-drench mg/kg/d nicotinamide riboside moved around the performance track longer than control pigs. Mitochondrial DNA analysis indicated NR supplementation did not affect semitendinosus mitochondrial DNA expression, but all treatments increased expression in the biceps femoris, and only the 15-drench treatment increased expression in the tensor fasciae latae. Therefore, nicotinamide supplementation increased mitochondrial biogenesis in a muscle and treatment specific manner. Electromyography analyses indicated over the entire run period, muscles yielded different fatigue patterns as measured by median power frequency and root mean square. Results indicate the tensor fasciae latae muscle displayed greater fatigue over the performance test than the other muscles. Barrows from the 45-drench treatment had greater median power frequency (less fatigue) values over the entire performance test than control barrows in the tensor fasciae latae and semitendinosus muscles. Treatments did not differ in root mean square (muscle fiber recruitment) in the semitendinosus and biceps femoris muscles, but all treatments except the 45 mg/kg treatment had smaller values (less muscle fiber recruitment) than control barrows. Objective #2 As of August 28, 2023, we have begun work on this objective by conducting a trial to determine the blood and muscle NAD+ accumulation pattern in pigs fed either 0, 30, or 45 mg/kg/d nicotinamide riboside over 35 days. That will determine if we need to feed the compound longer than 10 days. Objective #3 This objective has been addressed in last year's report. Objective #4 We did not conduct a study that addressed this objective.
Publications
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Progress 07/01/21 to 06/30/22
Outputs
Target Audience:This year this project reached the following audiences: 1. Pig industry personnel. 2. Pork harvest and fabrication facilities. 3. Nicotinamide riboside manufacturing company. 4. University colleagues and researchers outside of the University of Georgia. 5. Middle and high school students and teachers. Changes/Problems:No major changes are planned at this point, but we are considering several: We anticipated barrows may go off feed due to the taste of the NR product so we are not surprised to see the 45 mg/kg dose eat less feed. This trend was also seen in the other treatments, and we feel this affected the remainder of the dependent variables measured. Therefore, while we do not have concrete results for Trial 1, we feel the 30 mg/kg dose is the one to move forward with for Trial 2. We may run 1 rep of the trial to determine if the feed intake problem is worse with prolonged exposure. We are currently exploring better methodologies to measure muscle fatigue using the EMG, as barrows tend to knock them off. If proven effective, we may harvest pigs and immediately following use electromuscle stimulators to stimulate the muscle to fatigue. We also feel that the amount of stress we put on the pigs will negate the positive effects of NR on meat quality. Therefore, we are considering going back to the 3-day recovery period before harvesting pigs. We feel that would be more industry relatable. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The following groups were exposed to the project: Nine undergraduate students participated in data collection and analyses. Eight graduate students participated in data collection and analyses. Twenty middle school students from Stephens County, Georgia and their teachers were exposed to the project and technologies used to collect data. Nine high school teachers were exposed to the project and technologies used to collect data. Iowa State University Department of Animal Sciences seminar How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results have been disseminated through seminars and demonstrations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Complete analysis of immunohistochemistry and NAD+ content. Conduct a study to evaluate a better method to measure muscle fatigue with EMGs. Evaluate data further to identify any possible outliers in terms of feed consumption and performance test measures. Pick an optimal NR dose and begin the trial to evaluate Objective #2.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective #1 The project described in the proposal was completed as of March 2022. Data are still being analyzed; however, preliminary results indicate: There were no treatment effects on initial and final body weight. Barrows supplemented 45 mg/kg body weight of NR had reduced intake compared to all other treatments during the final 5 days of feeding. While not statistically significant, pigs supplemented NR ran farther and longer than pigs not supplemented with NR. We are reanalyzing the data to determine which pigs were difficult to move. Initial analysis indicates that the majority of pigs difficult to move were from the NR supplementation groups. Serum lactate and creatine kinase concentrations were reduced in NR supplemented pigs. Objective #2 This project has not been conducted as we are still analyzing the results of the first trial. Objective #3 We were unable to detect treatment gait differences, but the gait profile of barrows changed from pre- to post-performance test. Objective #4 Preliminary results indicate NR does not improved pork chop color-stability when pigs are acutely stressed before harvest.
Publications
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Progress 07/01/20 to 06/30/21
Outputs
Target Audience:This year this project reached the following audiences: 1. Pig industry personnel. 2. Pork harvest and fabrication facilities. 3. Nicotinamide riboside manufacturing company. 4. University colleagues and researchers outside of the University of Georgia. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The following students have been trained under the project: Undergraduate: 3 Graduate: 7 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of the pilot study were presented to the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia during the CAES Virtual Research Forum. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to finish all remaining repetitions for project 1, analyze all samples, and generate 1 manuscript associated with those data. We will also begin planning for the study associated with Objective #2.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective #1: 1. We conducted a pilot study determining the stability of nicotinamide riboside when mixed in feed and stored over 10 days. Results indicated nicotinamide riboside was stable and did not degrade during storage. 2. We conducted a small pilot study to orient the team to management, feeding, and data collection procedures associated with the project. Areas of improvement were noted and adjusted for the main study. 3. We completed all live pig husbandry and dosing procedures, sample collection, and color-stability study of repetition 1 of 5 . We are currently in the predosing stage of repetition 2. Objective #2: 1. No activities have been undertaken. Objective #3: 1. Data have been collected and processed for repetition 1 of 5 associated with the project associated with Objective #1. Objective #4: 1. Data have been collected and processed forrepetition 1 of 5 associated with the project associated with Objective #1.
Publications
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