Dietary spirulina supplementation modifies rumen development, fermentation and bacteria composition in Hu sheep when consuming high-fat dietary

Abstract

IntroductionThis study aims to investigate the long-term effects of spirulina supplementation in a high-fat diet (HFD) on rumen morphology, rumen fermentation, and the composition of rumen microbiota in lambs. Spirulina is a blue-green microalgae that has been shown to have high nutritional value for livestock.MethodsFifty-four lambs were randomly divided into three groups: a normal chow diet (NCD) group, a high-fat diet (HFD) group, and a high-fat diet supplemented with 3% spirulina (HFD+S) group. Rumen morphology, rumen fermentation, and rumen microbiota were analyzed at the end of the study.ResultsSpirulina supplementation improved the concentration of volatile fatty acids and rumen papilla length. Additionally, there was a tendency for an increase in rumen weight and an upregulation of the genes Claudin-1, Claudin-4, and Occludin in the HFD+S group. Pyrosequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene also showed that spirulina supplementation significantly changed the rumen microbiota composition in the HFD group, with a decrease in richness and diversity. Specifically, the relative abundance of Prevotella 9 and Megasphaera was significantly increased in the HFD group compared to the NCD group, while spirulina supplementation reversed these changes.DiscussionThis study suggests that 3% spirulina supplementation can improve rumen development and fermentation, and effectively relieve rumen microbe disorders in lambs caused by a high-fat diet. However, further research is needed to confirm the findings and to examine the long-term effects of spirulina supplementation in different types of livestock and under different dietary conditions.

Leverage of Dietary Spirulina on Physiological Profiles of Black Iraqi Goats

“…Spirulina supplementation raised VFA levels. Furthermore, VFA, the main product of rumen fermentation, has shown to have a wide range of impacts on ruminant physiology (Baxter et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2023). This study supports the findings of Christodoulou et al (2023), who evaluated the feeding Spirulina at the dosage of 15 g/ewe/day resulted in changes of rumen microorganisms population, and effect on the VFA in ruminal digest (Christodoulou et al, 2023).…”

Microbial Metagenomes and Host Transcriptomes Reveal the Dynamic Changes of Rumen Gene Expression, Microbial Colonization and Co-Regulation of Mineral Element Metabolism in Yaks from Birth to Adulthood

“…Previous studies have revealed that the rumen development process could be divided into three phases: non-rumination (0~3 weeks), transition (3~8 weeks), and rumination (8 weeks later) [27,56]. This was basically consistent with what we observed in the rumen of yaks, that is, there was no solid content in group 0 d, less forage and more milk in group 20 d, more forage and more milk in group 60 d, and only forage in group 15 m and group 3 y, indicating that yaks entered the transition stage of ruminant earlier.…”

Optimizing Reproductive Outcomes of Peranakan Etawa Goat with Microalgae Diet by Determining Ovarian Activity, Estradiol 17β Levels and Serum Malondialdehyde

“…Numerous studies have been conducted on the administration of Spirulina microalgae (Athrospira sp.). For example, Wang et al (2023) examined increases in body score condition (BCS), body weight, and reproductive performance by supplementing Spirulina sp. Mansour and Zeitoun (2023) examined at growth performance, puberty, and blood metabolism in goats given Spirulina supplements; and Eldaim et al (2018) gave a combination of Spirulina sp.…”