China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2021, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (7): 2378-2387.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2021.07.012

• Animal Nutrition and Feed Science • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of Dietary Supplementation of β-carotene During Late Pregnancy on Milk Composition and Gut Microbiota in Sows

YANG Xizi1, WU Shusong1,2, HU Ruizhi1, YAN Jiahao1, YUAN Xupeng1,3, HE Jianhua1,2   

  1. 1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China;
    2. Hunan Co-innovation Center of Safety Animal Production, Changsha 410128, China;
    3. Hunan Xinguangan Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd., Changsha 410100, China
  • Received:2020-11-30 Online:2021-07-20 Published:2021-07-15

Abstract: This experiment was designed to investigate the effect of β-carotene on milk composition and correlated gut microbiota,to reveal the correlation between gut flora and milk composition.A total of 48 hybrid sows with similar parity were selected and randomly divided into 3 groups (each with 16 replicates) and fed with a diet containing 0,30 and 90 mg/kg β-carotene,respectively.The experiment peroid was from the 90th d of gestation to the 14th day after delivery.Colostrum and fecal samples were collected on the day of delivery,and normal milk samples were collected on the 14th day of lactation.Immunoglobulins (Ig) and other commponents were determined in colostrum and normal milk,while fecal microbiota was characterized by 16S rRNA sequencing.The results showed that dietary supplementation of β-carotene had a tendency to increase the IgM level (P=0.173),but decrease IgG (P=0.155) in sow colostrum.Supplementation of 30 mg/kg β-carotene significantly increased the lactoprotein and urea nitrogen content (P<0.05),but reduced the lactose content (P<0.05) in ordinary milk,while 90 mg/kg β-carotene significantly reduced the total solids content in ordinary milk (P<0.05).Analysis of the fecal microbiota revealed that β-carotene up-regulated the relative abundance of microbial genera such as Eubacterium brachy group,Ruminococcaceae UCG009 and Ruminococcaceae UCG014,but down-regulated the relative abundance of Candidatus Soleaferrea,Coprococcus 3,Lachnospiraceae NK4B4 group and other flora.Correlation analysis showed that there had a negative correlation between Coprococcus 3 and the IgM level in colostrum (P<0.05),while Fibrobacter was positively correlated with IgG and IgM in colostrum (P<0.05).Moreover,Lachnospiraceae NK4B4 was positively correlated with the lactoprotein level and total solids content in ordinary milk (P<0.05),while Ruminococcaceae UCG009 had a negative correlation with the IgG level in colostrum (P<0.05).These data indicated that β-carotene may affect the composition of colostrum and ordinary milk by regulating gut microbiota in sows.

Key words: β-carotene; gut microbiota; immunoglobulin; milk composition

CLC Number: