Productive and physiological implications of top-dress addition of branched-chain amino acids and arginine on lactating sows and offspring

Effect of different doses of camelina cake inclusion as a substitute of dietary soyabean meal on growth performance and gut health of weaned pigs

Camelina cake (CAM) is a co-product proposed as an alternative protein source; however, piglet data are still limited. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different doses of CAM in substitution of soyabean meal on the growth, health and gut health of weaned pigs. At 14 d post-weaning (d0), sixty-four piglets were assigned either to a standard diet or to a diet with 4 %, 8 % or 12 % of CAM. Piglets were weighed weekly. At d7 and d28, faeces were collected for microbiota and polyamine and blood for reactive oxygen metabolites (ROM) and thyroxine analysis. At d28, pigs were slaughtered, organs were weighed, pH was recorded on gut, colon was analysed for volatile fatty acids (VFA) and jejunum was used for morphological and gene expression analysis. Data analysis was carried out using a mixed model including diet, pen and litter as factors; linear and quadratic contrasts were tested. CAM linearly reduced the average daily gain from d0-d7, d0-d14, d0-d21 and d0-d28 (P ≤ 0·01). From d0-d7 increasing CAM linearly decreased feed intake (P = 0·04) and increased linearly the feed to gain (P = 0·004). CAM increased linearly the liver weight (P < 0·0001) and affected the cadaverine (P < 0·001). The diet did not affect the ROM, thyroxine, intestinal pH, VFA and morphology. All doses of CAM increased the α diversity indices at d28 (P < 0·05). CAM at 4 % promoted the abundance of Butyricicoccaceae_UCG-008. Feeding with CAM enhanced resilience in the gut microbiome and can be evaluated as a potential alternative protein source with dose-dependent limitations on piglet growth performance.

Growth performance, serum parameters, inflammatory responses, intestinal morphology and microbiota of weaned piglets fed 18% crude protein diets with different ratios of standardized ileal digestible isoleucine to lysine

The present study was to explore the Ile requirement of piglets fed 18% crude protein (CP) diets. Two hundred and fifty 28-day-old Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire piglets (8.37 ± 1.92 kg) were randomly divided into 5 dietary treatments (10 piglets per replicate, 5 barrows and 5 gilts per replicate) with 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65% standardized ileal digestible (SID) Ile-to-Lys ratios, and the SID Lys was formulated to 1.19%. The experimental design consisted of two phases (d 1 to 14 and d 15 to 28). Results showed that average daily gain (ADG) had a tendency to quadratically increase as the SID Ile-to-Lys ratio increased (P = 0.09), and the optimum SID Ile-to-Lys ratios required to maximize ADG were 48.33% and 54.63% for broken-line linear model and quadratic polynomial model, respectively. Different SID Ile-to-Lys ratios had no significant effects on average daily feed intake and gain-to-feed ratio. Dry matter (P < 0.01), CP (P = 0.01), ether extract (P = 0.04), gross energy (P < 0.01) and organic matter (P < 0.01) digestibility increased quadratically. Serum total cholesterol levels decreased linearly (P = 0.01) and quadratically (P < 0.01); aspartate aminotransferase (P < 0.01), interleukin-1β (P = 0.01), and tumor necrosis factor-α (P < 0.01) levels decreased quadratically; immunoglobulin G (P = 0.03) and immunoglobulin M (P = 0.01) concentrations increased quadratically. Serum Ser levels decreased linearly (P < 0.01) and quadratically (P = 0.01); Glu (P = 0.02), Arg (P = 0.05), and Thr (P = 0.03) levels decreased quadratically; Gly (P < 0.01) and Leu (P = 0.01) levels decreased linearly; Ile (P < 0.01) concentration increased linearly. Duodenal villus height (P < 0.01) and villus height to crypt depth ratio (P < 0.01) increased quadratically. The deficiency or excess of Ile decreased short chain fatty acid-producing bacteria abundance and increased pathogenic bacteria abundance. Overall, taking ADG as the effect index, the optimum SID Ile-to-Lys ratios of piglets offered 18% CP diets were 48.33% and 54.63% based on two different statistical models, respectively, and the deficiency or excess of lle negatively affected piglet growth rates and health status.

Well-known polypeptides of deer antler velvet with key actives: modern pharmacological advances

Deer antler velvet, with kidney tonifying, promoting the production of essence and blood, strengthening tendons and bones, not only has a thousand-year medicinal history but also its modern pharmacology mainly focuses on its active polypeptides on motor, nerve, and immune systems. The purpose of this report is to fill the gap in the comprehensive, systematic, and detailed review of polypeptides during the recent 30 years (1992-2023). The research method was to review 53 pharmacological articles from the Public Medicine, Web of science, ACS, and Science Direct database sources by searching the keywords "pilose antler," "deer velvet," "Pilose Antler Peptide (PAP) and Velvet Antler Polypeptide (VAP)." The results showed that deer antler polypeptides (DAPs), by regulating EGF, EGFR, MAPK, P38, ERK, NF-κB, Wnt, PI3K, Akt, MMP, AMPK, Stir1, NLRP3, HO-1, Nrf, Rho, TLR, TGF-β, Smad, Ang II, etc., revealed their effects on seven system-related diseases and their mechanisms, including osteoarthritis, intervertebral disc degeneration, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, triple-negative breast cancer, liver injury, liver fibrosis, cardiovascular disease, acute lung injury, and late-onset hypogonadism. In conclusion, DAPs have good effects on motor and other system-related diseases, but the secondary and tertiary structures of DAPs (0.5-1800 KDa) need to be further elucidated, and the structure-activity relationship study is still unavailable and needs to be covered. It is expected that this review may provide the necessary literature support for further research. The activities and mechanisms of polypeptides from the past 30 years (1992-2023) are summarized covering seven systems, related diseases, and its regulatory genes and proteins.

Supplementation of dietary semen vaccariae extracts to lactating sow diets: effects on the production performance, milk components, and gene expression related to mammogenesis

This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary semen vaccariae extracts (SVE) on the production performance, colostrum components, and relative gene expression related to mammogenesis of lactating sows. 48 pregnant sows were selected and randomly allocated into four groups, with six replicates and two sows per replicate. The first group was the control (CON), while the other groups received the same diet further supplemented with 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 g SVE per kg (SV1, SV2 and SV3, respectively). Compared with the control group, (1) the average daily gain was increased (p < 0.05) in SV1, SV2, and SV3 during the 11-21 days and 1-21 days of lactation; (2) the serum insulin-like growth factor-1, insulin, prolactin, and estrogen contents in SV1, SV2, and SV3 were increased (p < 0.05) on the 1st and 21st day of lactation; (3) The plasma Lysine, Threonine, and Tryptophan concentrations were also higher (p < 0.05) in SV1, SV2, and SV3 on the 1st and 21st day of lactation; (4) The milk Lysine, Methionine, Threonine, and Tryptophan concentrations were higher (p < 0.05) in SV1, SV2, and SV3 on the 1st and 21st day of lactation; (5) The milk lactose ratio and milk protein content were increased (p < 0.05) in the groups treated with semen vaccariae on the 1st day of lactation, while the milkfat ratio and milk protein content were increased (p < 0.05) in SV2 and SV3 on the 21st day of lactation; (6) the immunoglobulin M, A, and G contents were increased (p < 0.05) in the groups treated with the semen vaccariae on the first day of lactation; and (7) the relative PRLR, STAT5a, FcRn, CSN2, and LALBA expressions were higher (p < 0.05) in the groups treated with the semen vaccariae on the 1st and 21st day of lactation. In this study, the optimum dosage was 3.0 g/kg semen vaccariae, which increased the average daily gain of piglets, total lactation yield, and serum hormone levels, improved the amino acid levels in plasma, and facilitated the milk quality, up-regulated the relative gene expressions in the mammogenesis.

Insight into the long-term impact of birth weight on intestinal development, microbial settlement, and the metabolism of weaned piglets

Infant mortality of low birth body weight (LBBW) piglets can reach 10% and is mainly due to gut and immune system immaturity which can lead to a higher risk in the long term. This study aimed to assess the impact of birth body weight (BBW) on piglet metabolism, gut status, and microbial profile from weaning to 21 d postweaning. At birth, 32 piglets were selected for their BBW and inserted into the normal BBW (NBBW:1.38 ± 0.09 g) or the LBBW (0.92 ± 0.07 g) group. The piglets were weighed weekly from weaning (d0) to d21. At d9 and d21, 8 piglets/group were slaughtered to obtain the distal jejunum for morphology, immunohistochemistry, and gene expression analysis, colon content for microbiota and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) analysis, and intestinal content for pH measurement. Blood was collected for metabolomic, haptoglobin (Hp), and reactive oxygen metabolite (ROM) analysis. The LBBW group had a lower body weight (BW) throughout the study (P < 0.01), a lower average daily gain from d9-d21 (P = 0.002), and lower feed intake (P = 0.02). The LBBW piglets had lower Hp at d9 (P = 0.03), higher ROMs at d21 (P = 0.06), and a net alteration of the amino acid (AA) metabolism at d9 and d21. A higher expression of NFKB2 was observed in the LBBW piglets at d9 (P = 0.003) and d21 (P < 0.001). MYD88 expression was enhanced in NBBW piglets at d9 (P < 0.001). The LBBW piglets had a lower villus height, absorptive mucosal surface (P = 0.01), and villus height:crypt depth ratio (P = 0.02), and a greater number of T-lymphocytes in both the epithelium and the crypts (P < 0.001) at d21. At d21, the LBBW piglets had higher lactic acid, acetate, butyrate, and valerate, and also higher SCFA in the colon (P < 0.05). The LBBW piglets had a higher Shannon index (P = 0.01) at d9 and a higher abundance of SCFA-fermenting bacteria. In conclusion, the present study confirmed that LBBW could impact the gut mucosal structure, immunity, and inflammatory and oxidative status, leading to an altered AA metabolism, and delaying the recovery from weaning.