András Gáspárdy

6602575031

Publications - 10

Determination of Natural Blood Plasma Melatonin Concentration of Tsigai Ewes Characteristic for Gestation and Early Postpartum Period Between Autumnal Equinox and Winter Solstice

Levente Harmat Ida Polland András Gáspárdy Alán Alpár László Gulyás Sándor György Fekete

Publication Name: Veterinary Sciences

Publication Date: 2025-04-01

Volume: 12

Issue: 4

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

Melatonin is a special hormone with many functions. Its production in human and animal organisms is particularly seasonal and related to physiological processes. This study monitors blood plasma melatonin concentration in sheep during the whole gestation and early post-partum period, taking into account the effect of the season that has been less studied so far and in certain details for the first time. It proves that nocturnal plasma melatonin concentration in pregnant ewes increases between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice in Central Europe in the Northern Hemisphere. It observes that nocturnal plasma melatonin concentration (between 18:00 p.m. and 06:00 a.m.) in pregnant ewes follows a less pronounced variation. Furthermore, it provides proof that nocturnal plasma melatonin concentration in pregnant ewes does not change as pregnancy progresses. It is the first to report that nocturnal plasma melatonin concentration decreases to the same level in ewes and new-born lambs immediately after birth, without nighty fluctuations.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3390/vetsci12040336

Evaluation of finger imprint persistence as a practical method for measuring the severity of mammary oedema in dairy cows

Edit Mikó Violetta Tóth András Gáspárdy László Gulyás

Publication Name: Journal of Central European Agriculture

Publication Date: 2024-06-28

Volume: 25

Issue: 2

Page Range: 292-304

Description:

The study aims to assess the severity of udder oedema around the calving using a traditional scoring (0-3 point scale) and the firstly applied fingerprint test to measure skin firmness. Furthermore, it was investigated how the degree of udder oedema is influenced by the effects taken into account in the processing. The study was carried out on 62 animals diagnosed with udder oedema before calving at a typical large-scale dairy operation in Hungary. It was found that with more severe udder oedema, the first udder teats are thicker (P = 0.038) and the udder skin surface is cooler (P = 0.007), and the duration of the fingerprint is significantly longer (P < 0.001). There is a strong positive correlation between oedema severity and fingerprint persistence (r = 0.66, P < 0.05). This suggests that the persistence of finger imprint is a reliable indicator of the severity of udder oedema.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.5513/JCEA01/25.2.4039

VARIOUS APPROACHES TO INFLUENCE MELATONIN LEVEL IN SHEEP REPRODUCTION

Zsolt Becskei Dóra Fürlinger Anikó Móczáné Pleskó Edina Kárpáti András Gáspárdy László Gulyás

Publication Name: Veterinarski Glasnik

Publication Date: 2023-01-01

Volume: 77

Issue: 1

Page Range: 16-34

Description:

A new field of research in reproductive biology was heralded by the discovery of melatonin in 1958. The concentration of melatonin follows light-dark cycles with significantly higher concentrations during darkness. The authors present the importance of the melatonin protein hormone by focusing on the reproductive processes in domestic sheep. In their literature review, they report that sheep melatonin levels show daily and seasonal rhythms. In sheep as a seasonal breeder and short-day animal species, seasonal increases in melatonin production stimulate sexual activity. The authors describe innovative possibilities for regulating melatonin levels in sheep production. The use of exogenous melatonin brings forward the expression of the sexual cycle. It increases the fertility rate, the number of lambs born, and the chances of survival of twin lambs. Melatonin is a neuroprotection compound against cerebral hypoxia and the development of inflammatory processes in the growing foetus and the newborn lamb.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.2298/VETGL220308007K

The First In-deep Pedigree Analysis of Repatriated Gyimes Racka Sheep for a Sustainable Preservation of its Genetic Resource

János Posta László Sáfár Edina Kárpáti András Gáspárdy László Gulyás

Publication Name: Chemical Engineering Transactions

Publication Date: 2023-01-01

Volume: 107

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: 343-348

Description:

The preservation of endangered domestic animal breeds is a specific area of sustainable livestock farming. In the southern part of the Carpathians, a variant of Zaupel-type (Racka) sheep, which was small in size and resistant to the cold mountain weather, developed at the beginning of the 19th century. In order to preserve this historical variant, it was introduced in Hungary in the early 1990s. The aim of this work is to study the pedigree of the repatriated population of the Gyimes Racka to understand its population structure and to support its future breeding work. The pedigree data (2005-2020) show that the number of founding individuals (Nf) was 3,838, within which the number of maternal lineages was 2,255. The effective number of founders (fe) and the effective number of significant ancestors (fa) in the total pedigree population were higher than in the reference population (n=2,591; 67 and 56 vs. 20 and 14, respectively). The pedigree traced back to a maximum of 2.51 generations with an average of 1.34 complete generations and 1.78 equivalent complete generations on average (in the reference population: 6.05, 2.73 and 3.82, respectively). Of the 16,947 animals registered in the herd book (with an average normalised COI of 1.43 % obtained by log transformation), 3,828 were inbred (6.30 %). As regards the maternal generations, it can be observed that the inbred stage increases steadily and significantly from the beginning to the present eighth generation (from 0.00 % to 9.54 %). The average generation interval between breeding animals was 3.29 years (obtained by log transformation). The sire-progeny paths had shorter (2.92-3.02) and the dam-progeny paths had longer (3.62-3.70) intervals. The Gyimes Racka population is already showing signs of genetic narrowing during its short conservation period, which calls for attention to stop undesirable trends.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3303/CET23107058

Linseed oil supplementation affects fatty acid desaturase 2, peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma, and insulin-like growth factor 1 gene expression in turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo)

Eszter Zsédely E. Lakatos Károly Tempfli Klaudia Szalai András Gáspárdy Ágnes Bali Papp

Publication Name: Animal Bioscience

Publication Date: 2021-04-01

Volume: 34

Issue: 4

Page Range: 662-669

Description:

Objective: Effects of linseed oil (LO) supplementation on the fat content and fatty acid profile of breast meat, and the expression of three genes in the liver, breast muscle and fat tissues of commercial 154-day-old hybrid male turkeys were investigated. Methods: The animals in the control group were fed a commercially available feed and received no LO supplementation (n = 70), whereas animals in the LO group (n = 70) were fed the same basic diet supplemented with LO (day 15 to 21, 0.5%; day 22 to 112, 1%). The effect of dietary LO supplementation on fatty acid composition of breast muscle was examined by gas chromatography, and the expression of fatty acid desaturase 2 (FADS2), peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) genes was analysed by means of quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results: The LO supplementation affected the fatty acid composition of breast muscle. Hepatic FADS2 levels were considerably lower (p<0.001), while adipose tissue expression was higher (p<0.05) in the control compared to the LO group. The PPARγ expression was lower (p<0.05), whereas IGF1 was higher (p<0.05) in the fat of control animals. There were no significant (p>0.05) differences in FADS2, PPARγ, and IGF1 gene expressions of breast muscle; however, omega-6/omega-3 ratio of breast muscle substantially decreased (p<0.001) in the LO group compared to control. Conclusion: Fatty acid composition of breast meat was positively influenced by LO supplementation without deterioration of fattening parameters. Remarkably, increased FADS2 expression in the liver of LO supplemented animals was associated with a significantly decreased omega-6/omega-3 ratio, providing a potentially healthier meat product for human consumption. Increased PPARγ expression in fat tissue of the LO group was not associated with fat content of muscle, whereas a decreased IGF1 expression in fat tissue was associated with a trend of decreasing fat content in muscle of the experimental LO group.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.5713/ajas.20.0030

Characterisation of Hungarian Cikta sheep based on the control region of mtDNA

Petra Zenke Ákos Maróti-Agóts Károly Tempfli Annus Kata Sáfár László Kovács Endre Harmat Levente András Gáspárdy

Publication Name: Magyar Allatorvosok Lapja

Publication Date: 2020-07-01

Volume: 142

Issue: 7

Page Range: 421-428

Description:

Background: The consideration of the high genetic diversity is indispensable on the course of preservation of endangered animal breeds. Objectives: The authors evaluate the genetic background in the Hungarian native Cikta breed by use of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region (CR) sequence firstly. Their investigation was carried out in order to serve data for the maintenance of maternal lineages. Materials and Methods: The DNA samples were taken from the descendants of the eldest families by use of founder sampling method based on pedigree (n = 69) in 2015. The primers described by Hiendleder et al. (7) were used to amplify the region of interest (AF010406). Results and Discussion: The control region of mtDNA showed polymorphisms at 32 sites. However, the herds shared 24 polymorphic sites, so the maternal background of the Cikta appears to be genetically uniform. The total number of haplotypes were 13, furthermore, most of the samples belonged to the haplog-roup B of sheep. This fact proves the decisively European maternal origin of the Hungarian Cikta. The average number of pairwise differences (k) and the average nucleotide diversity (ro) were 6.863 and 5.95 × 10-3, respectively. The values of the Cikta population were not significant (p < 0.10) neither by the Tajima D-test (0.107) and by Fu's Fs statistics (2.533), meaning that the greatly reduced population size of the breed known from the breed history did not cause genetic drift, it is in genetic equilibrium regarding its ancient families. The genetic information confirmed the origin of the families/flocks known from the breed history. A more intense focusing on the maternal side is motivated also by the fact that the females are present at greater number than the males, respectively they remain in breeding for a longer period of time, so they can at larger extent be the depositaries of realization and maintenance of genetic diversity.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: DOI not available

Sex determination using circulating cell-free fetal DNA in small volume of maternal plasma in elephants

Petra Zenke Boglárka Vincze Sándor Cseh Endre Ákos Papp Gábor Kovács Alexandra Biácsi László Garamvölgyi Zsolt Pádár András Gáspárdy Endre Sós

Publication Name: Scientific Reports

Publication Date: 2019-12-01

Volume: 9

Issue: 1

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

The genetic sexing of animals having long gestation periods offers significant benefits in regard to breeding management among their populations living in captivity. In our study, a new increased-sensitivity PCR method for fetal sexing was developed and tested successfully on elephants, from only a small volume of maternal plasma. Suitable sensitivity was obtained by using short, reduced amplicon lengths with fluorescent labelling for capillary electrophoresis detection. The fundamental principle for this technique was based on the detection of two Y-specific markers (AmelY and SRY), the presence of which indicates the mother is carrying a male fetus and the absence of these markers designates a female fetus. As a reaction control, the X-chromosomal marker (PlpX) was used. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on this topic, confirming the presence of fetal cell-free DNA from the plasma of a pregnant captive elephant, and demonstrating a new opportunity for non-invasive assessment in fetal sex determination.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-51641-8

Str diversity of a historical sheep breed bottlenecked, the cikta

Petra Zenke Ákos Maróti-Agóts László Sáfár Károly Tempfli Endre Kovács A. Shannon András Gáspárdy Ágnes Bali Papp

Publication Name: Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences

Publication Date: 2019-02-01

Volume: 29

Issue: 1

Page Range: 41-47

Description:

The population structure of the endangered Cikta sheep breed was evaluated by means of nine microsatellite polymorphisms. Seventy-two individuals from three flocks were sampled to determine genetic indices in the Hungarian population. Overall, average observed and effective allele numbers were 5.63 and 3.76, respectively. Discriminant analysis based on genotype frequencies revealed moderate genetic diversity among Cikta flocks, since only three loci (OarCP49, CSSM47 and OarHH41) contributed significantly (P<0.05) to differences between subpopulations. Low squared Mahalanobis distances from group centroids also confirmed that the breed is almost equally represented by the three flocks. Moderate level of diversity between flocks was attributed to the long-term effects of a population bottleneck dating back to the 1970s. Negative average FIS value (-0.18) indicated heterozygote excess. Chi-squared tests identified significant (P<0.05) deviation from HWE in the case of BM8125, CSSM47, and MAF214 markers. Continuous microsatellite information is required for the preservation of rare alleles and diversity in Cikta sheep.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: DOI not available

The response of prion genic variation to selection for scrapie resistance in Hungarian indigenous sheep breeds

Petra Zenke Ákos Maróti-Agóts László Sáfár Endre Kovács Viktoria Holly András Gáspárdy Ágnes Bali Papp

Publication Name: Acta Veterinaria Hungarica

Publication Date: 2018-01-01

Volume: 66

Issue: 4

Page Range: 562-572

Description:

The authors studied the present status of Hungarian indigenous sheep breeds based on the genetic background of scrapie resistance. The aim of this investigation was to estimate the relative frequency of prion haplotypes, genotypes and risk categories, as well as to reveal the efficiency of the scrapie eradication programme achieved over the last decade. A novel approach in the characterisation of prion by using its genic variation was also implemented. The authors established that the proportion of deleterious sites (%) can be a useful indicator of the eradication programme. Based on a large sample size, it was confirmed that the scrapie resistance of the Cikta breed is low, and the classification of this breed according to risk category has not improved. However, the frequent genotype ARQ and risk category 3 can also be considered characteristic of the breed. The careful use of these genotypes is permitted and will contribute to the maintenance of breed diversity. The response of prion genic variation to selection for scrapie resistance in the other breeds (Tsigai, Milking Tsigai, White Racka, Black Racka and Gyimes Racka) was definitely successful.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1556/004.2018.050

A specific selection programme is required in the autochthonous Cikta Sheep which is endangered by own frequent ARQ prion haplotype?

Petra Zenke Ákos Maróti-Agóts László Sáfár Károly Tempfli Endre Kovács Susanne Mitro András Gáspárdy Ágnes Bali Papp

Publication Name: Landbauforschung

Publication Date: 2017-01-01

Volume: 67

Issue: 3-4

Page Range: 141-146

Description:

The authors study the current status of Hungarian Cikta Sheep based on genetic background of scrapie resistance. The aim of this investigation was to estimate the relative frequency of prion haplotypes, -genotypes, and risk categories as well as to reveal the efficiency of scrapie eradication program achieved over the last decade. The authors confirmed based on larger sample size the previous knowledge, that the resistance against scrapie of Cikta breed is considered as low, and the classification of this breed according to risk category has not been improved. However, the frequent genotype ARQ and risk category 3 can also be considered for breed specificity. The careful use of these genotypes is permitted and will contribute to the maintenance of breed diversity according to other aspects.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3220/LBF1513065159000