Allicin in pregnancy diets modulates steroid metabolism in pregnant sows and placental sulphate metabolism promoting placental angiogenesis and foetal development
J. Peng,
Y. Zhang,
Q. Liu,
Y. Tang,
W. Zhang,
S. Zheng,
W. Huang,
M. Yang,
Y. He,
Z. Li,
L. Xie,
J. Li,
J. Wang,
Y. Zhou
Affiliations
J. Peng
Innovative Institute of Animal Healthy Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food Sciences, Academy of Contemporary Agricultural Engineering Innovations, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510225, China
Y. Zhang
Innovative Institute of Animal Healthy Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food Sciences, Academy of Contemporary Agricultural Engineering Innovations, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510225, China
Q. Liu
Innovative Institute of Animal Healthy Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food Sciences, Academy of Contemporary Agricultural Engineering Innovations, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510225, China
Y. Tang
Innovative Institute of Animal Healthy Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food Sciences, Academy of Contemporary Agricultural Engineering Innovations, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510225, China
W. Zhang
Innovative Institute of Animal Healthy Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food Sciences, Academy of Contemporary Agricultural Engineering Innovations, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510225, China
S. Zheng
Innovative Institute of Animal Healthy Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food Sciences, Academy of Contemporary Agricultural Engineering Innovations, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510225, China
W. Huang
Innovative Institute of Animal Healthy Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food Sciences, Academy of Contemporary Agricultural Engineering Innovations, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510225, China; College of Animal Science and Technology and Animal Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Frontiers Science Center for Animal Breeding and Sustainable Production, Wuchang, Wuhan 430000, China
M. Yang
Innovative Institute of Animal Healthy Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food Sciences, Academy of Contemporary Agricultural Engineering Innovations, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510225, China
Y. He
Innovative Institute of Animal Healthy Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food Sciences, Academy of Contemporary Agricultural Engineering Innovations, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510225, China
Z. Li
Innovative Institute of Animal Healthy Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food Sciences, Academy of Contemporary Agricultural Engineering Innovations, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510225, China
L. Xie
Innovative Institute of Animal Healthy Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food Sciences, Academy of Contemporary Agricultural Engineering Innovations, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510225, China
J. Li
School of Life and Health Science, Anhui Science and Technology University, Fengyang, Anhui 233100, China
J. Wang
Division of AOS & CDC, Faculty of Dentistry, and State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
Y. Zhou
College of Animal Science and Technology and Animal Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Frontiers Science Center for Animal Breeding and Sustainable Production, Wuchang, Wuhan 430000, China; Corresponding author.
The low-birth-weight of piglets is an important factor affecting pig enterprises. The placenta, as a key organ for material exchange between mother and foetus, directly influences the growth and development of the foetus. Allicin exhibits various biological activities, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It may also play a crucial role in enhancing sow reproductive performance and placental angiogenesis. In this study, we used 70 lactating Landrace × Yorkshire binary heterozygous sows to explore the effect of allicin on the reproductive performance of sows and placental development. The sows were randomly assigned into the Allicin group (Allicin), which was fed with a diet containing 0.25% allicin, and the negative control group, which was fed with basal feed. The experimental period lasted for 114 d from the date of mating to the end of farrowing. The results showed that the addition of allicin to the gestation diets increased the number of total born piglets, born alive piglets, and high-birth-weight piglets, reduced peripartum oxidative stress, alleviated dysregulation of glucose-lipid metabolism in sows, and increased the levels of antioxidant markers in the placenta. Differential analysis of metabolites in maternal plasma and placenta samples by non-targeted metabolomics revealed that allicin improved cholesterol metabolism, steroid biosynthesis, and increased plasma progesterone levels in sows. Allicin promoted sulphur metabolism, cysteine and methionine metabolism in placental samples and increased the hydrogen sulphide (H2S) content in the placenta. In addition, Quantitative Real-time PCR, Western blot and immunofluorescence results showed that allicin upregulated the expression of angiogenesis-related genes, VEGF-A, FLK 1 and Ang 1, in the placenta, implying that it promoted placental angiogenesis. These results indicate that supplementing the diet of pregnant sows with allicin reduces oxidative stress, alleviates dysregulation of glucose-lipid metabolism during the periparturient period, and promotes placental angiogenesis and foetal development by increasing plasma progesterone level and placental H2S content.
