Multiple stressors are believed to deteriorate production performance and cause substantial economiclosses in commercial poultry farming. Folic acid (FA) is an antioxidant compound that can improveoocyte function and ...Multiple stressors are believed to deteriorate production performance and cause substantial economiclosses in commercial poultry farming. Folic acid (FA) is an antioxidant compound that can improveoocyte function and regulate gut microbiota composition. The current study was conducted to investigatethe role of FA in alleviating stress and improving production performance. Sixty Hyline Brown layinghens at 21 weeks of age were randomly divided into three groups, with 10 replicates in each group andeach replicate containing two chickens. Each group received basic diet and saline injection (Con group),basic diet with dexamethasone (DXM) injection (DXM group), or basic diet supplemented with FA(13 mg/kg in the premix) with DXM injection (FA group). The feeding trial lasted five weeks. Birds in theDXM and FA groups receiving subcutaneous DXM injections at a dosage of 4.50 mg/kg per day during thefirst seven days of the trial. Results showed that the levels of corticosterone, triglyceride, total cholesterol,and malondialdehyde in serum were significantly increased in the DXM group (P < 0.05), while theconcentrations of FA and 5-methyltetrahydrofolate were decreased in the DXM group (P < 0.05). Layinghens in the DXM group had lower laying rates and egg quality, including egg weight, eggshell thickness,eggshell strength, albumen height, and Haugh units (P < 0.05). Conversely, FA alleviated these negativeimpacts. Through transcriptome analysis, a total of 247 and 151 differentially expressed genes wereidentified among the three groups, and 32 overlapped genes were further identified. Moreover, 44 and59 differential metabolites were influenced by DXM and FA, respectively. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genesand Genomes enrichment from the transcriptome and metabolomics showed that the reduced productionperformance may be due to the disturbance of oocyte production, calcium metabolism, andoxidative stress. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequences revealed the differential microbialcomposition and potential functional changes among the different groups. LEfSe analysis showed thatMucispirillum and Nautella were the predominant bacteria in the DXM group, while Clostridium was thepredominant bacteria in the FA group. Functional prediction demonstrated that stressors enhanced fattyacid biosynthesis, while betaine biosynthesis and retinol metabolism were elevated in the FA group.Dietary FA reversed the elevated levels of bile acids (BA), including cholic acid, taurodeoxycholic acid,and taurochenodeoxycholic acid (P < 0.05). The DXM group showed an overall decrease in short-chainfatty acids (SCFA), but FA restored the concentrations of acetic acid, propionic acid, and isobutyric acid(P < 0.05). In conclusion, this study reveals that dietary FA can alleviate the degradation of productionperformance caused by stress through improving circulating antioxidant capacity, maintaining intestinal microbiota homeostasis, and regulating SCFA and BA biosynthesis. Thus, highlighting the prominent roleof gut microbe-host interactions in alleviating multi-stresses.展开更多
基金funded by the National Science Foundation of China (32372910)National Key Research&Development Program of China (2023YFD1301400)Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program for college students (202410712240 and X202410712257)
文摘Multiple stressors are believed to deteriorate production performance and cause substantial economiclosses in commercial poultry farming. Folic acid (FA) is an antioxidant compound that can improveoocyte function and regulate gut microbiota composition. The current study was conducted to investigatethe role of FA in alleviating stress and improving production performance. Sixty Hyline Brown layinghens at 21 weeks of age were randomly divided into three groups, with 10 replicates in each group andeach replicate containing two chickens. Each group received basic diet and saline injection (Con group),basic diet with dexamethasone (DXM) injection (DXM group), or basic diet supplemented with FA(13 mg/kg in the premix) with DXM injection (FA group). The feeding trial lasted five weeks. Birds in theDXM and FA groups receiving subcutaneous DXM injections at a dosage of 4.50 mg/kg per day during thefirst seven days of the trial. Results showed that the levels of corticosterone, triglyceride, total cholesterol,and malondialdehyde in serum were significantly increased in the DXM group (P < 0.05), while theconcentrations of FA and 5-methyltetrahydrofolate were decreased in the DXM group (P < 0.05). Layinghens in the DXM group had lower laying rates and egg quality, including egg weight, eggshell thickness,eggshell strength, albumen height, and Haugh units (P < 0.05). Conversely, FA alleviated these negativeimpacts. Through transcriptome analysis, a total of 247 and 151 differentially expressed genes wereidentified among the three groups, and 32 overlapped genes were further identified. Moreover, 44 and59 differential metabolites were influenced by DXM and FA, respectively. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genesand Genomes enrichment from the transcriptome and metabolomics showed that the reduced productionperformance may be due to the disturbance of oocyte production, calcium metabolism, andoxidative stress. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequences revealed the differential microbialcomposition and potential functional changes among the different groups. LEfSe analysis showed thatMucispirillum and Nautella were the predominant bacteria in the DXM group, while Clostridium was thepredominant bacteria in the FA group. Functional prediction demonstrated that stressors enhanced fattyacid biosynthesis, while betaine biosynthesis and retinol metabolism were elevated in the FA group.Dietary FA reversed the elevated levels of bile acids (BA), including cholic acid, taurodeoxycholic acid,and taurochenodeoxycholic acid (P < 0.05). The DXM group showed an overall decrease in short-chainfatty acids (SCFA), but FA restored the concentrations of acetic acid, propionic acid, and isobutyric acid(P < 0.05). In conclusion, this study reveals that dietary FA can alleviate the degradation of productionperformance caused by stress through improving circulating antioxidant capacity, maintaining intestinal microbiota homeostasis, and regulating SCFA and BA biosynthesis. Thus, highlighting the prominent roleof gut microbe-host interactions in alleviating multi-stresses.
