Cargando…

Benefits of dietary supplements on the physical fitness of German Shepherd dogs during a drug detection training course

A high standard of physical fitness is an essential characteristic of drug detection dogs because it affects not only their ability to sustain high activity levels but also their attention and olfaction efficiency. Nutritional supplements could improve physical fitness by modulating energy metabolis...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Menchetti, Laura, Guelfi, Gabriella, Speranza, Roberto, Carotenuto, Pasquale, Moscati, Livia, Diverio, Silvana
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6570027/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31199843
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218275
_version_ 1783427247827320832
author Menchetti, Laura
Guelfi, Gabriella
Speranza, Roberto
Carotenuto, Pasquale
Moscati, Livia
Diverio, Silvana
author_facet Menchetti, Laura
Guelfi, Gabriella
Speranza, Roberto
Carotenuto, Pasquale
Moscati, Livia
Diverio, Silvana
author_sort Menchetti, Laura
collection PubMed
description A high standard of physical fitness is an essential characteristic of drug detection dogs because it affects not only their ability to sustain high activity levels but also their attention and olfaction efficiency. Nutritional supplements could improve physical fitness by modulating energy metabolism, oxidative processes, and perceived fatigue. The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological and biochemical changes induced by submaximal exercise on drug detection dogs (German Shepherd breed) and to assess whether a dietary supplement improves their physical fitness. During a drug detection dog training course, seven dogs were fed with a basal diet (Control Group) for three-month period, while a further seven dogs were fed with a basal diet as well as a daily nutritional supplement containing branched-chain and limiting amino acids, carnitine, vitamins, and octacosanol (Treatment Group). At the end of this period, individual physical fitness was assessed by making each subject take a graded treadmill exercise test. A human heart rate monitor system was used to record the dog’s heart rate (HR) during the treadmill exercise and the subsequent recovery period. The parameters related to HR were analysed using nonparametric statistics. Blood samples were collected before starting the nutritional supplement treatment, before and after the treadmill exercise and following recovery. Linear mixed models were used. The dietary supplements accelerated HR recovery, as demonstrated by the lower HR after recovery (P<0.05) and Time constants of HR decay (P<0.05), and by the higher Absolute HR Recovered (P<0.05) recorded in the Treatment group compared with the Control dogs. The supplemented dogs showed the lowest concentrations of creatine kinase (CK; P<0.001), aspartate aminotransferase (AST, P<0.05) and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA; P<0.01) suggesting a reduction in muscle damage and improvement of energy metabolism. These data suggest that this combined supplement can significantly enhance the physical fitness of drug detection dogs.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6570027
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2019
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-65700272019-06-20 Benefits of dietary supplements on the physical fitness of German Shepherd dogs during a drug detection training course Menchetti, Laura Guelfi, Gabriella Speranza, Roberto Carotenuto, Pasquale Moscati, Livia Diverio, Silvana PLoS One Research Article A high standard of physical fitness is an essential characteristic of drug detection dogs because it affects not only their ability to sustain high activity levels but also their attention and olfaction efficiency. Nutritional supplements could improve physical fitness by modulating energy metabolism, oxidative processes, and perceived fatigue. The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological and biochemical changes induced by submaximal exercise on drug detection dogs (German Shepherd breed) and to assess whether a dietary supplement improves their physical fitness. During a drug detection dog training course, seven dogs were fed with a basal diet (Control Group) for three-month period, while a further seven dogs were fed with a basal diet as well as a daily nutritional supplement containing branched-chain and limiting amino acids, carnitine, vitamins, and octacosanol (Treatment Group). At the end of this period, individual physical fitness was assessed by making each subject take a graded treadmill exercise test. A human heart rate monitor system was used to record the dog’s heart rate (HR) during the treadmill exercise and the subsequent recovery period. The parameters related to HR were analysed using nonparametric statistics. Blood samples were collected before starting the nutritional supplement treatment, before and after the treadmill exercise and following recovery. Linear mixed models were used. The dietary supplements accelerated HR recovery, as demonstrated by the lower HR after recovery (P<0.05) and Time constants of HR decay (P<0.05), and by the higher Absolute HR Recovered (P<0.05) recorded in the Treatment group compared with the Control dogs. The supplemented dogs showed the lowest concentrations of creatine kinase (CK; P<0.001), aspartate aminotransferase (AST, P<0.05) and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA; P<0.01) suggesting a reduction in muscle damage and improvement of energy metabolism. These data suggest that this combined supplement can significantly enhance the physical fitness of drug detection dogs. Public Library of Science 2019-06-14 /pmc/articles/PMC6570027/ /pubmed/31199843 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218275 Text en © 2019 Menchetti et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Menchetti, Laura
Guelfi, Gabriella
Speranza, Roberto
Carotenuto, Pasquale
Moscati, Livia
Diverio, Silvana
Benefits of dietary supplements on the physical fitness of German Shepherd dogs during a drug detection training course
title Benefits of dietary supplements on the physical fitness of German Shepherd dogs during a drug detection training course
title_full Benefits of dietary supplements on the physical fitness of German Shepherd dogs during a drug detection training course
title_fullStr Benefits of dietary supplements on the physical fitness of German Shepherd dogs during a drug detection training course
title_full_unstemmed Benefits of dietary supplements on the physical fitness of German Shepherd dogs during a drug detection training course
title_short Benefits of dietary supplements on the physical fitness of German Shepherd dogs during a drug detection training course
title_sort benefits of dietary supplements on the physical fitness of german shepherd dogs during a drug detection training course
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6570027/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31199843
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218275
work_keys_str_mv AT menchettilaura benefitsofdietarysupplementsonthephysicalfitnessofgermanshepherddogsduringadrugdetectiontrainingcourse
AT guelfigabriella benefitsofdietarysupplementsonthephysicalfitnessofgermanshepherddogsduringadrugdetectiontrainingcourse
AT speranzaroberto benefitsofdietarysupplementsonthephysicalfitnessofgermanshepherddogsduringadrugdetectiontrainingcourse
AT carotenutopasquale benefitsofdietarysupplementsonthephysicalfitnessofgermanshepherddogsduringadrugdetectiontrainingcourse
AT moscatilivia benefitsofdietarysupplementsonthephysicalfitnessofgermanshepherddogsduringadrugdetectiontrainingcourse
AT diveriosilvana benefitsofdietarysupplementsonthephysicalfitnessofgermanshepherddogsduringadrugdetectiontrainingcourse