Dietary supplement with a mixture of fish oil and krill oil has sex-dependent effects on obese mice gut microbiota

Health promoting benefits of krill oil: mechanisms, bioactive combinations, and advanced encapsulation technologies

Krill oil, derived from Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) species, is drawing increased attention due to its distinct composition, being rich in omega-3 fatty acids, phospholipids, and astaxanthin. Recent studies highlight the potential benefits of krill oil as a dietary supplement for enhancing various health-related factors. Research indicates that supplementing with krill oil positively affects markers of inflammation, oxidative stress, muscle function, glucose metabolism, and lipid profiles. Additionally, advancements in encapsulation technologies aim to optimize the delivery and efficacy of krill oil supplements. The review outlines the selection of emulsifiers and wall materials, along with techniques employed in creating four novel encapsulation methods for krill oil: micro/nanoemulsions, microcapsules, liposomes, and nanostructured lipid carriers. The review also provides scientific literature on the physiological impacts and underlying mechanisms of krill oil supplementation. It explores its influence on glucose homeostasis, oxidative stress responses, inflammatory pathways, lipid metabolism, and muscle physiology.

Feeding of fish oil and medium-chain triglycerides to canines impacts circulating structural and energetic lipids, endocannabinoids, and non-lipid metabolite profiles

Introduction

The effect of medium-chain fatty acid-containing triglycerides (MCT), long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid-containing triglycerides from fish oil (FO), and their combination (FO+MCT) on the serum metabolome of dogs (Canis familiaris) was evaluated.

Methods

Dogs (N = 64) were randomized to either a control food, one with 7% MCT, one with FO (0.18% eicosapentaenoate and 1.3% docosahexaenoate), or one with FO+MCT for 28 days following a 14-day washout period on the control food. Serum metabolites were analyzed via chromatography followed by mass spectrometry.

Results

Additive effects of serum metabolites were observed for a number of metabolite classes, including fatty acids, phospholipids, acylated amines including endocannabinoids, alpha-oxidized fatty acids, and methyl donors. Some effects of the addition of FO+MCT were different when the oils were combined compared with when each oil was fed separately, namely for acylcarnitines, omega-oxidized dicarboxylic acids, and amino acids. Several potentially beneficial effects on health were observed, including decreased circulating triglycerides and total cholesterol with the addition of FO (with or without MCT) and decreases in N-acyl taurines with the addition of MCT, FO, or FO+MCT.

Discussion

Overall, the results of this study provide a phenotypic characterization of the serum lipidomic response to dietary supplementation of long-chain n3-polyunsaturated and medium-chain saturated fats in canines.

Increasing helminth infection burden depauperates the diversity of the gut microbiota and alters its composition in mice

The gut microbiota constitutes a diverse community of organisms with pervasive effects on host homeostasis. The diversity and composition of the gut microbiota depend on both intrinsic (host genetics) and extrinsic (environmental) factors. Here, we investigated the reaction norms of fecal microbiota diversity and composition in three strains of mice infected with increasing doses of the gastrointestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus. We found that α-diversity (bacterial taxonomic unit richness) declined along the gradient of infective doses, and β-diversity (dissimilarity between the composition of the microbiota of uninfected and infected mice) increased as the infective dose increased. We did not find evidence for genotype by environment (host strain by infective dose) interactions, except when focusing on the relative abundance of the commonest bacterial families. A simulation approach also showed that significant genotype by environment interactions would have been hardly found even with much larger sample size. These results show that increasing parasite burden progressively depauperates microbiota diversity and contributes to rapidly change its composition, independently from the host genetic background.

Sex-dependent changes in the microbiota profile, serum metabolism, and hormone levels of growing pigs after dietary supplementation with Lactobacillus

Dietary supplementation with Lactobacillus can improve the intestinal microbial balance and exerts beneficial effects on pig health. However, whether these effects in pigs show differences between the sexes remains poorly understood. Therefore, we analyzed the sex-dependent patterns in the fecal microbiota after dietary supplementation with Lactobacillus acidophilus ZLA012 through high-throughput sequencing, determined the metabolomic profile of serum in barrows (immature castrated males) and gilts (sexually immature females) through nontargeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and measured the levels of various hormones, such as insulin, growth hormone, serotonin, triiodothyronine, and thyroxine. Lactobacillus supplementation resulted in more obvious effects on the microbial diversity and composition in barrows than in gilts. Specifically, supplementation with L. acidophilus ZLA012 significantly increased the abundance of the phylum Bacteroidetes and decreased that of Firmicutes in barrows. In contrast, more notable effects on metabolites, particularly those involved in lipid metabolism and glycerophospholipid metabolism, were observed in gilts than in barrows after Lactobacillus supplementation. Megasphaera, Dialister, Gemmiger, Faecalibacterium, Bulleidia, and Prevotella were the core functional genera associated with the significantly affected metabolites, which are involved in the biosynthesis, degradation, and elongation of fatty acids. L. acidophilus ZLA012 treatment increased the serum insulin, total bile acid, lipoprotein lipase, and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)⁺ levels in gilts, whereas higher serotonin levels were found in barrows than in gilts. The results indicated that the separate housing of barrows and gilts might be beneficial for targeted dietary supplementation and application of Lactobacillus in pig production. KEY POINTS: • L. acidophilus exerted obvious effects on microbiota profiles for barrows than gilts. • Gilts treated by L. acidophilus had a greater variety of lipid metabolism compared with barrows. • Lactobacillus regulated the dynamic balance among the microbiota, metabolism, and hormone in pigs.

Effect of Gender Bias on Equine Fecal Microbiota

Many studies on human intestinal microbiota indicate that gender difference is one of the key factors influencing microbial community composition. To date, the degree of influence that gender has on equid intestinal microbiota has not been reported. Thus, microbiota was analyzed in feces of seven female Przewalski's horses (FRPHs) and seven male Przewalski's horses (MRPHs) in this study, determining which microbiota characteristics respond to gender biases. The microbial community composition and structure were explored by 16S rRNA sequencing, followed by diversity analysis and difference analysis. Female Przewalski's horses showed higher Shannon diversity than MRPHs, no difference in Simpson diversity, and displayed difference in beta diversity. Although gender had little effect on the overall microbiota, it significantly changed the dominant microbial community in each classification level. Male Przewalski's horses contained significantly higher amounts of microorganisms related with diseases, including spirochetes (phylum), deltaproteobacteria (class), fibrobacteria (class), spirochaetia (class), desulfovibrionales (order), fibrobacterales (order), spirochaetales (order), and spirochaetaceae (family). Female Przewalski's horses showed less than MRPHs in the top 10 genera. To our knowledge, this study is the first to document the gender-related intestinal microbiota profile in equines and discovered notable differences between the gender, which suggests that gender should be considered as a biological variable in future microbiota studies.

Docosahexaenoate-enriched fish oil and medium chain triglycerides shape the feline plasma lipidome and synergistically decrease circulating gut microbiome-derived putrefactive postbiotics

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of medium-chain fatty acid-containing triglycerides (MCT), long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid-containing triglycerides, and their combination on the plasma metabolome of cats (Felis catus), including circulating microbiome-derived postbiotics. After a 14-day lead-in on the control food, cats were randomized to one of four foods (control, with 6.9% MCT, with fish oil [FO; 0.14% eicosapentaenoate, 1.0% docosahexaenoate], or with FO+MCT; n = 16 per group) for 28 days. Analysis of plasma metabolites showed that the addition of FO and MCT led to synergistic effects not seen with either alone across a number of lipid classes, including fatty acids, acylcarnitines, and acylated amines including endocannabinoids. Notably, the FO+MCT group had an increase in ketone body production relative to baseline and beyond that seen with MCT alone. N-acyl taurines, the accumulation of which has been implicated in the onset of type 2 diabetes, were significantly decreased in the FO+MCT group. Significant decreases in the gut microbiome-derived postbiotic classes of indoles/indolic sulfates and phenols/phenolic sulfates were observed only the FO+MCT group. Overall, the combination of MCT and FO led to number of changes in plasma metabolites that were not observed with either oil alone, particularly in postbiotics.