Inhibition of Rumen Methanogenesis and Ruminant Productivity: A Meta-Analysis

Methane (CH4) formed in the rumen and released to the atmosphere constitutes an energy inefficiency to ruminant production. Redirecting energy in CH4 to fermentation products with a nutritional value to the host animal could increase ruminant productivity and stimulate the adoption of CH4-suppressin...

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Main Author: Emilio M. Ungerfeld
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-06-01
Series:Frontiers in Veterinary Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fvets.2018.00113/full
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spelling doaj-ed0b21b5906247fba6529500419e50d22020-11-25T01:43:04ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Veterinary Science2297-17692018-06-01510.3389/fvets.2018.00113327696Inhibition of Rumen Methanogenesis and Ruminant Productivity: A Meta-AnalysisEmilio M. UngerfeldMethane (CH4) formed in the rumen and released to the atmosphere constitutes an energy inefficiency to ruminant production. Redirecting energy in CH4 to fermentation products with a nutritional value to the host animal could increase ruminant productivity and stimulate the adoption of CH4-suppressing strategies. The hypothesis of this research was that inhibiting CH4 formation in the rumen is associated with greater ruminant productivity. The primary objective of this meta-analysis was to evaluate how inhibiting rumen methanogenesis relates with the efficiencies of milk production and growth and fattening. A systematic review of peer-reviewed studies in which rumen methanogenesis was inhibited with chemical compounds was conducted. Experiments were clustered based on research center, year of publication, experimental design, feeding regime, type of animal, production response, inhibitor of CH4 production, and method of CH4 measurement. Response variables were regressed against the random experiment effect nested in its cluster, the random effect of the cluster, the linear and quadratic effects of CH4 production, and the random interaction between CH4 production and the experiment nested in the cluster. When applicable, responses were adjusted by intake of different nutrients included as regressors. Inhibiting rumen methanogenesis tended to associate positively with milk production efficiency, although the relationship was influenced by individual experiments. Likewise, a positive relationship between methanogenesis inhibition and growth and fattening efficiency depended on the inclusion and weighting of individual experiments. Inhibiting rumen methanogenesis negatively associated with dry matter intake. Interpretation of the effects of inhibiting methanogenesis on productivity is limited by the availability of experiments simultaneously reporting energy losses in feces, H2, urine and heat production, as well as net energy partition. It is concluded that inhibiting rumen methanogenesis has not consistently translated into greater animal productivity, and more animal performance experiments are necessary to better characterize the relationships between animal productivity and methanogenesis inhibition in the rumen. A more complete understanding of changes in the flows of nutrients caused by inhibiting rumen methanogenesis and their effect on intake also seems necessary to effectively re-channel energy gained from CH4 suppression toward consistent gains in productivity.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fvets.2018.00113/fullrumenmethanemethanogenesisenergyinhibitionruminants
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Emilio M. Ungerfeld
spellingShingle Emilio M. Ungerfeld
Inhibition of Rumen Methanogenesis and Ruminant Productivity: A Meta-Analysis
Frontiers in Veterinary Science
rumen
methane
methanogenesis
energy
inhibition
ruminants
author_facet Emilio M. Ungerfeld
author_sort Emilio M. Ungerfeld
title Inhibition of Rumen Methanogenesis and Ruminant Productivity: A Meta-Analysis
title_short Inhibition of Rumen Methanogenesis and Ruminant Productivity: A Meta-Analysis
title_full Inhibition of Rumen Methanogenesis and Ruminant Productivity: A Meta-Analysis
title_fullStr Inhibition of Rumen Methanogenesis and Ruminant Productivity: A Meta-Analysis
title_full_unstemmed Inhibition of Rumen Methanogenesis and Ruminant Productivity: A Meta-Analysis
title_sort inhibition of rumen methanogenesis and ruminant productivity: a meta-analysis
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Veterinary Science
issn 2297-1769
publishDate 2018-06-01
description Methane (CH4) formed in the rumen and released to the atmosphere constitutes an energy inefficiency to ruminant production. Redirecting energy in CH4 to fermentation products with a nutritional value to the host animal could increase ruminant productivity and stimulate the adoption of CH4-suppressing strategies. The hypothesis of this research was that inhibiting CH4 formation in the rumen is associated with greater ruminant productivity. The primary objective of this meta-analysis was to evaluate how inhibiting rumen methanogenesis relates with the efficiencies of milk production and growth and fattening. A systematic review of peer-reviewed studies in which rumen methanogenesis was inhibited with chemical compounds was conducted. Experiments were clustered based on research center, year of publication, experimental design, feeding regime, type of animal, production response, inhibitor of CH4 production, and method of CH4 measurement. Response variables were regressed against the random experiment effect nested in its cluster, the random effect of the cluster, the linear and quadratic effects of CH4 production, and the random interaction between CH4 production and the experiment nested in the cluster. When applicable, responses were adjusted by intake of different nutrients included as regressors. Inhibiting rumen methanogenesis tended to associate positively with milk production efficiency, although the relationship was influenced by individual experiments. Likewise, a positive relationship between methanogenesis inhibition and growth and fattening efficiency depended on the inclusion and weighting of individual experiments. Inhibiting rumen methanogenesis negatively associated with dry matter intake. Interpretation of the effects of inhibiting methanogenesis on productivity is limited by the availability of experiments simultaneously reporting energy losses in feces, H2, urine and heat production, as well as net energy partition. It is concluded that inhibiting rumen methanogenesis has not consistently translated into greater animal productivity, and more animal performance experiments are necessary to better characterize the relationships between animal productivity and methanogenesis inhibition in the rumen. A more complete understanding of changes in the flows of nutrients caused by inhibiting rumen methanogenesis and their effect on intake also seems necessary to effectively re-channel energy gained from CH4 suppression toward consistent gains in productivity.
topic rumen
methane
methanogenesis
energy
inhibition
ruminants
url https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fvets.2018.00113/full
work_keys_str_mv AT emiliomungerfeld inhibitionofrumenmethanogenesisandruminantproductivityametaanalysis
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