Effects of Protein Restriction and Subsequent Realimentation on Body Composition, Gut Microbiota and Metabolite Profiles in Weaned Piglets

Lei Hou; Li Wang; Yueqin Qiu; YunXia Xiong; Hao Xiao; Hongbo Yi; Xiaolu Wen; Zeling Lin; Zhikang Wang; Xuefen Yang; Zongyong Jiang

doi:10.3390/ani11030686

Animals (Mar 2021)

Effects of Protein Restriction and Subsequent Realimentation on Body Composition, Gut Microbiota and Metabolite Profiles in Weaned Piglets

Lei Hou,
Li Wang,
Yueqin Qiu,
YunXia Xiong,
Hao Xiao,
Hongbo Yi,
Xiaolu Wen,
Zeling Lin,
Zhikang Wang,
Xuefen Yang,
Zongyong Jiang

Affiliations

Lei Hou: Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Li Wang: Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Maoming Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou 510640, China
Yueqin Qiu: Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Maoming Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou 510640, China
YunXia Xiong: Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Maoming Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou 510640, China
Hao Xiao: Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Maoming Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou 510640, China
Hongbo Yi: Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Maoming Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou 510640, China
Xiaolu Wen: Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Maoming Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou 510640, China
Zeling Lin: Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Maoming Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou 510640, China
Zhikang Wang: Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Maoming Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou 510640, China
Xuefen Yang: Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Maoming Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou 510640, China
Zongyong Jiang: Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030686
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 11, no. 3
p. 686

Abstract

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of protein restriction and subsequent protein realimentation on the body composition, gut microbiota and metabolite profiles of piglets. Fifty weaned piglets were randomly assigned to two treatments: a normal protein (NP) group (20% crude protein (CP)) or a low protein (LP) group (16% CP) with five animals per pen and five pens per group. Treatment diets were fed for 14 d during the protein restriction phase, and then all pigs were fed the same nursery diets with a normal CP level (19% CP) during the protein realimentation phase until they reached an average target body weight (BW) of 25 ± 0.15 kg. At day 14 and the end of the experiment, one piglet close to the average BW of each pen was slaughtered to determine body composition, microbial composition and microbial metabolites. Results showed that there was no difference (p > 0.05) in the experimental days to reach target BW between the LP and NP groups. The average daily gain (ADG) and gain:feed ratio (G:F) during the protein restriction phase as well as BW at day 14, were significantly decreased (p p > 0.05) during the protein realimentation phase and the overall experiment. Similarly, piglets in the LP group showed a significantly decreased body protein content (p p > 0.05) at the end of the experiment. The relative abundance of Parabacteroides, Butyricicoccus, Olsenella, Succinivibrio and Pseudoramibacter were significantly increased (p Alloprevotella and Faecalicoccus were significantly decreased (p p Parabacteroides, unidentified Christensenellaceae and Caproiciproducens, and a lower (p Prevotellaceae, Haemophilus, Marvinbryantia, Faecalibaculum, Neisseria and Dubosiella than those in the NP group. Metabolomics analyses indicated that tryptophan metabolism and vitamin metabolism were enriched in the LP group at day 14, and glycerophospholipid metabolism and fatty acid esters of hydroxy fatty acid metabolism were enriched at the end of the experiment. Moreover, Spearman’s correlation analysis demonstrated that the microbial composition was highly correlated with changes in colonic metabolites. Collectively, these results indicated that protein restriction and subsequent realimentation lead to compensatory growth and compensatory protein deposition in piglets and contribute to animal intestinal health by altering the gut microbiota and its metabolites.

Published in Animals

ISSN: 2076-2615 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Agriculture: Animal culture: Veterinary medicine; Science: Zoology
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/animals/

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