Background: Uptake of C-11 methionine and Tc-99m methionine in brain tumor is still uncertain, but the most theories describe combination of passive diffusion through the damaged blood-brain-barrier and carrier mediated active tumor uptake due to an increased protein synthesis. We review our experience of 11C methionine and 99m Tc-methionine in detection of recurrent primary brain tumor.Materials and Methods: 18 patients (10 males, 8 females) age 30-55 years’ post therapy were sent for recurrence evaluation. All patients underwent C-1 Methionine PET/CT and Tc-9m Methionine SPECT/CT scans on two different days.Results: C-11 methionine images were assessed visually and by SUV calculation. Tc-99m methionine images were visually assessed and tumor to background ratio calculated. Both were found to show tracer accumulation at sites of residual/recurrent tumor in all cases.Conclusion: Our study reveals that Tc-99m methionine can be used as an alternative tracer to C- 11 methionine in the evaluation of brain tumors suspected of residual or recurrence.

Bioavailability of three rumen protected Methionine (Met) sources with different protection methods (Mepron® M85, Evonik Industries, Germany; Methioplus®, Soda Nutrition, Italy and Methilock®, Tehrandaneh Co. Iran) were evaluated in 2 experiments with 6 canulated non-lactating Holstein cows. In experiment 1, the ruminalin situ and mobile bag techniques were used for assessing ruminal degradability and intestinal digestibility of Met from the protected Met sources. The rate of disappearance of Met from Mepron® M85 was lower than Methioplus® (2.94 vs.5.73 % h-1). Mepron® M85 had more resistance to ruminal degradation than Methioplus® (82.78 vs.68.51%), but the higher intestinal digestibility of Methioplus® resulted in similar amounts of available Met for two products. Because of high washing out loss fromin situ bags, ruminal degradation was not estimated for Methilock®. In the second experiment, Met availability was assayed by the blood Met response after 5 days feeding each product in comparison to pretreatment levels utilizing a 3×3 Latin square design. Three Met sources increased blood Met concentration significantly after 5 days feeding (37.5, 52.23 and 44.39% for Methilock®, Mepron® and Methioplus® respectively). Results of the present study showed that the three RPM sources increased blood Met concentration. This study also suggests that thein situ method may not adequately characterize the availability of rumen protected amino acids, especially those of small particle size.

This experiment was carried out to determine the bioefficacy of herbal methionine (H-Met)® versus to DLmethionine (DL-Met) on growth performance basisin broiler chickens. A total of 160 day-old male broiler chickens (Ross 308) were used in a completely randomized design and were randomly assigned to 8 treatments, 4 replicates and 5 chicks in every experimental unit (cage).Treatments included basal diet supplemented increasingly with Herbal methionine and DL-methionine during three growth periods of chickens.Multiexponential regression was used to determined bioavailability of H-Met® relative to DL-Met on growth performance basis in broilers. Body weight gain and feed intake of the broilers fed H-Met or DL Met improved in the experiment, regardless of Met sources, relative to those broilers fed basal diet. The bioavailability of HMet® relative to DL-Met with considering body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio in starter period were 45, 77 and 82% respectively, in grower period were 55, 69 and 75% respectively and in finisher period were 57, 71 and 75% respectively. Totally, the average bioavailability of H-Met® versus to DL-Met is 65% for broiler chickens.

Introduction: Most parts of Iran are located in arid and semi-arid areas which animals undergo feed shortage due to poor natural vegetation. Metabolic modifi ers such as anabolic steroids, somatotropin, beta agonists, vitamins and minerals, fed in extra-nutritional levels, increase growth rate, feed effi ciency, carcass leanness, profitability of livestock production and decrease carcass fatness. Moreover, heat and transportation stress results in decreased feed intake, body weight, average daily gain and reproductive performance of animals. Chromium (Cr) and selenium (Se) are micronutrients which could be considered as metabolic modifiers. It has been reported that dietary Se supplementation improves reproductive performance, oxidative stress, immune system, as well as growth performance of the animals. Cr supplement, as a constituent of low-molecular-weight Crbinding substance (LMWCr) or chromodulin, also increases glucose tolerance by potentiating the action of insulin. However, there are a few information regarding the effects of organic Se and Cr supplements on performance and blood metabolites of ewe lambs under transportation stress. Thus this study aimed to evaluate the impacts of feeding selenium-methionine (Se-Met) and Chromium-methionine (Cr-Met) supplements on growth performance and blood metabolites of ewe lambs. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four Baluchi ewe lambs with mean body weight of 24. 2 ± 0. 4 kg and 4 months old were allocated randomly to 4 dietary treatments including (1) control diet (no Se or Cr supplementation), and control diet supplemented with (2) Se-Met (1. 5 mg kg-1 dry matter (DM)), (3) Cr-Met (0. 8 -1 mg kg DM) and (4) Se-Cr-Met (1. 5 mg of Se-Met plus 0. 8 mg of Cr-Met kg-1 DM). The whole experimental period divided into two periods of adaptation (2 weeks) and data collection (9 weeks). A transportation stress was applied by transporting the animals in a truck in a bumpy road for 30 minutes in 8th week of the experiment. Blood samples were collected at commencement and the end of experiment. For transportation stress, blood samples were obtained just before the lambs were loaded and unloaded from the truck. Serum glucose, urea, creatinine, total protein and albumin concentrations were measured by spectrophotometer and cortisol by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Statistical analysis was carried out using SAS software. A mixed model with fixed effects of treatment, time and random effect of lamb within treatment × time were used. A paired T-test was used to compare the blood metabolite concentrations pre-transportation with posttransportation stress. Results and Discussion: The results indicated that, feeding ewe lambs diets contained organic Se and Cr supplements improved average daily gain )ADG( and feed conversion ratio (FCR: control, Se, Cr, and Se-Cr were 5. 99, 5. 41, 5. 22, 5. 45 respectively). Lambs in Cr-Met group showed the highest feed intake and live weight gain compared those in the control. Blood glucose concentration decreased in Cr-Met fed lambs in comparison with control animals. Feeding Se-Met and/or Cr-Met supplements had no effect on blood urea, creatinine, cholesterol, total protein and albumin concentrations. Based on the findings, blood glucose and cortisol concentrations were increased in response to transportation stress. Feeding Cr reduced the concentration of blood cortisol. It seems that the beneficial effects of Cr are associated with its role in carbohydrate and protein metabolisms. Chromium potentiates insulin action by enhancing its binding to target cell receptors and also by improving its post-receptor signaling. Insulin increases protein synthesis, efficiency of amino acid transport, and carbohydrate and lipid utilization and reduces protein degradation. Selenium supplements also improve feed efficiency by increasing triiodothyronine activity and enhancing antioxidant status. Moreover, Cr can prevent the deleterious effects of transportation stress. Conclusion: It could be concluded that feeding ewe lambs with organic selenium (0. 8 mg kg-1 ) and chromium -1 (1. 5 mg kg ) supplements may improve feed to gain ratio and ameliorate the changes in blood glucose and cortisol concentrations in response to transportation stress.

Objective: Myostatin also known as growth differentiation factor 8, is a protein produced and released by myocytes that acts on muscle cells' autocrine function to inhibit myogenesis: muscle cell growth and differentiation. This research had been done in order to assess the effect of DL-methionine replacement with L-methionine, and also the effects of varying dietary protein levels on Myostatin gene expression in Japanese quail. Materials and methods: This experiment was carried in the form of a 2×2 factorial with 4 treatment. Treatments contained the replacement of DL-methionine with L-methionine, and different dietary protein levels, were 24 and 20 %. After about 35 days of feeding and keeping the quails, a piece of their chest has been removed immediately and were transferred to the laboratory. Myostatin gene expression measured by using RT-qPCR technique. In this method, 𝜷-actin gene was used as a house-keeping gene to normalize the gene expression data in the quantitative real time PCR. Results: DL-methionine replacement did not significantly effect on Myostatin gene expression. Whereas, reduction in protein surface from 24% to 20 %, led to significantly increased expression of Myostatin (P<0. 01). Conclusions: The results indicated that DL methionine could be replaced with L methionine, and the appropriate level of protein was 24% in the Japanese quail diet.

This research was conducted to investigate the effect of different levels of protein (20 and 24%) and the replacement of methionine DL with L methionine on the expression of myogenic genes (atrogin-1 and MYF-5) using the RT-qPCR technique in Japanese quail. This experiment was done in the form of a 2×2 factorial with 4 treatments and 4 repetitions and 15 quail in each replicate. The first treatment included DL-methionine and 20% protein (control group). The second treatment consisted of L methionine and 24% proteins, and the third treatment included L methionine and protein 20% and the fourth treatment included DL-methionine and protein 24%. After 35 days of feeding and keeping the quails, with 8 hours interval of hunger, 2 quails were slaughtered in each replicate, and a piece of their chest has been removed immediately and was transferred to the laboratory with Liquid nitrogen, and froze in-80° c. After extraction of the whole RNA, its quality was measured and was used to generate and synthesis the cDNA. Eventually, the expression of myogenic genes was measured by the real-time PCR method. In this method, 𝜷-actin gene, as the source gene, was used to normalize the data. The results showed that by decreasing the protein level from 24% to 20%, atrogin-1 gene expression increased and the MYF-5 gene expression decreased. Also, the replacement of methionine DL with L-methionine did not have a significant effect on the expression of myogenic genes. The results indicated that DL-methionine could be replaced with L methionine, and a 24% protein level is more suitable than 20% in the Japanese quail diet.

The effects of intra amniotic injection of zinc-methionine and nano zinc-methionine on metallothionein mRNA expression of chicken’ s liver and intestine were studied. Four hundred fertiled eggs (Ross 308 strain) were allocated to 4 treatments, 4 replicates/ treatment and 25 eggs per replicate using a CRD (Complete Random Design) design. Experimental treatments were: 1-no injection (negative control), 2-injection of 1 ml 0. 9% saline solution (positive control), 3-injection of 1 ml 25% zinc-methionine solution and 4-injection of 1 ml 25% nano-zinc-methionine solution. On day 17 of incubation, eggs were injected using insulin syringes. Results showed that in Ovo injection lead to no significant effect on hatchability. The injection of zinc-methionine and nano zinc-methionine caused significant (P<0. 01) increase in chicks weight at hatch, and a week after that. A similar result was obtained for liver and intestine samples. Groups treated with zinc-methionine and nano zinc-methionine showed significant (P<0. 01) increase in metallothionein mRNA expression in liver and intestine and remained significant (P<0. 01) at day 7 after hatch. Experimental treatments significantly (P<0. 01) increased the liver and intestine metallothionein content at day 1 and 7 after hatch. Conclusion is that in ovo injection of zinc-methionine and nano zinc-methionine lead to increase body weight at first 3weeks of broiler rearing.

This research was conducted to evaluate the effects of synthetic methionine replacement with herbal methionine (HM) on performance, blood biochemical parameters and carcass characteristics in broiler chicken. A total of 280 8-old Ross 308 male chicken were randomly assigned to 7 dietary treatments: control, in which 100% methionine requirement was supplied form DL-methionine, and in treatments 2 to 7, DL-methionine in control was replaced by 20, 40, 50, 60, 80 and 100% HM, respectively. Each treatment replicated 4 times (10 birds per each). Body weight at 21 and 42 d in broilers fed HM in levels up to 60% and 50% replacement was similar to those fed control diet, respectively. Experimental treatments had no significant impact on feed intake during the trial. No differences were observed in carcass percentage and relative weights of abdominal fat, breast, tights, liver, heart, thymus, lien, and bursa among the treatments. Herbal methionine replacement had no significant effect on blood total protein, globulin, uric acid and triglyceride content. Concentration of serum albumin was significantly elevated in birds fed diets contained 80% HM, whereas cholesterol content in treatment 100% HM and glucose content in treatments 60, 80 and 100% HM significantly reduced in compare to control (P≤ 0. 05). In conclusion, it could be feasible to use herbal methionine in broiler diets as a replacement to supply a part of the methionine requirement without negatively affecting performance or carcass traits.