The Effect of Feeding Cannabis Seed on NPY Gene Expression in Baluchi Sheep

Baluchi sheep is one of the best wool breeds in Iran, it is well-known as high tolerance breed against dry weather and lack of forage. In this study, the effects of supplementing diet with cannabis seed on NPY gene expression in heart, liver testis, back fat and longissimus muscle tissues in Baluchi sheep were investigated. NPY is one of the most important genes involved in regulating appetite and energy balance and its most notable effect is stimulating feed intake.

12 Baluchi male lambs were randomly divided into two groups. The first group was fed a control diet containing 14 percent crude protein and the second group was fed a diet containing 14 percent crude protein and supplemented with 10 percent Cannabis seed. At the end of the 110 days fattening period, the animals were slaughtered and tissue samples were collected and properly frozen for RNA extraction. Total RNA was extracted from tissues and cDNA was constructed following RNA quality and quantity control. In order to approve cDNA synthesis, PCR reaction was used to amplify a fragment of β-actin control gene with a length of 112 bp. Real Time PCR was performed to evaluate NPY gene expression. Gene expression data were analyzed by REST software.

The outcomes of statistical analysis indicated that the fold change of NPY gene expression between control and treatment group was significant for liver and back fat tissues (p<0.05).  Moreover, we found that NPY gene expression was 9.82 and 1.03 times higher in liver and heart of the lambs treated with Cannabis seed compared with the control group, respectively. In back fat, longissimus muscle and testis gene expression levels decreased 6.46, 2.73 and 1.18 times between treatment and control groups, respectively.

 It may be concluded that addition of Cannabis seed to the diet affects the lamb fattening performance through the increased liver tissue activity and modifying fat tissue metabolism. Due to the fact that the NPY gene is associated with the regulation of appetite and energy balance, the effects of cannabis on the production capacity of lambs through molecular mechanisms can play a significant biological role in liver tissue.