Effects of butyrate supplementation on blood glucagon-like peptide-2 concentration and gastrointestinal functions of lactating dairy cows fed diets differing in starch content

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of butyrate supplementation on plasma concentration of glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2), apparent total-tract digestibility, and responses to a grain challenge of lactating dairy cows fed diets differing in starch content. Eight Holstein cows averaging 58.6 ± 9.96 d in milk (4 primiparous cows fitted with rumen cannula and 4 multiparous intact cows) were blocked by parity and assigned to one of two 4 × 4 Latin squares balanced for carryover effects with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Treatments were dietary starch content [20.6 vs. 27.5%, respectively, for low starch (LS) and high starch (HS)] and butyrate supplementation (butyrate vs. control) with 21-d periods. Butyrate was provided as Gustor BP70 WS (Norel, S.A., Madrid, Spain), containing 70% sodium butyrate and 30% fatty acid mixture, at 2% of dietary dry matter (providing butyrate at 1.1% of dietary dry matter), and control premix contained 70% wheat bran and 30% fatty acid mixture. Feeds, orts, and fecal samples were collected from d 17 to 19 to determine apparent total-tract nutrient digestibility. Blood and rumen fluid samples were collected on d 19. The baseline of dry matter intake (DMI) was determined as average DMI from d 17 to 19 for each cow, and cows were feed-restricted at 60% of the baseline DMI on d 20, and a grain challenge was conducted by providing steam-flaked corn grain at 0.6% of body weight, on an as-fed basis, in addition to each treatment diet on d 21, and blood and ruminal fluid samples were collected. The interaction of dietary starch content by butyrate supplementation was significant for plasma GLP-2 concentration, being greater for cows fed butyrate with the HS diet than those fed the other 3 diets. Cows fed butyrate increased nbutyrate concentration in the ruminal fluid and tended to increase dry matter and organic matter digestibility compared with the control. During the grain challenge, rumen endotoxin concentration increased over time and was higher for cows fed the HS diets compared with those fed LS diets. However, response variables related to inflammation were not affected by the grain challenge. However, serum haptoglobin, lipopolysaccharidebinding protein, and serum amyloid-A concentrations were greater for cows fed butyrate with the LS diet, but not for those fed the HS diet. These results indicate that butyrate supplementation may increase plasma GLP-2 concentration for cows fed HS diets, and totaltract digestibility regardless of dietary starch content. However, butyrate supplementation did not mitigate inflammation in this study.

The effect of sodium butyrate supplementation on ruminal and fecal pH and serum lipopolysaccharide‐binding protein after ruminal acidosis challenge in nonlactating cows

“…Huhtanen et al (1993) reported that intraruminal infusion of butyrate increased digestibility of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and organic matter in the total digestive tract. Our previous study also showed that the ingestion of sodium-butyrate increased apparent digestibility of DM and organic matter in the total digestive tract in lactating dairy cows (Fukumori et al, 2020). Guilloteau et al (2009Guilloteau et al ( , 2010 reported that supplementation of sodium-butyrate in milk replacer increased lactase and maltase activities in the small intestines of calves, resulting in improved DM digestibility.…”

“…Butyrate is one of major volatile fatty acids (VFAs) produced by bacterial fermentation. It is known to enhance epithelial growth in the rumen, abomasum, and small intestine in ruminants (Malhi et al, 2013; Mentschel et al, 2001; Sakata & Tamate, 1978) and to enhance nutrient digestibility in lactating cows (Huthanen et al, 1993; Fukumori et al, 2020). Furthermore, in an in vitro study using the livers of lactating cows, sodium butyrate mitigated activation of nuclear factor‐κB and production of inflammatory related cytokines caused by LPS stimulation (Xu et al, 2018).…”

Effects of dietary butyrate supplementation and oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug administration on serum inflammatory markers and productivity of dairy cows during the calving transition

“…there is little research evaluating the effects of butyrate supplementation during the calving transition period on performance and inflammation. Much previous research evaluated the effects of butyrate in lactating cows (Herrick et al, 2017;Fukumori et al, 2020;Halfen et al, 2021). Although Kowalski et al (2015) evaluated the effects of butyrate supplementation in cows during the calving transition, butyrate was only supplemented in the close-up period; thus, research assessing the effects of butyrate in the fresh period is lacking.…”

“…In contrast, we detected higher serum Hp concentration at d −4 relative to calving in butyrate-fed cows, and no postpartum differences in concentrations of the serum inflammatory markers, SAA and Hp. Fukumori et al (2020) also reported higher serum Hp concentration in cows fed butyrate and suggested that this may be due to gut-specific inflammation as butyrate increases epithelial expression of TLR4, activates the nuclear factor-κB signal pathway, and increases proinflammatory response (Andoh et al, 1999;Hýzd'alová et al, 2008;Xiao et al, 2018). Alternatively, the higher plasma FA concentration on d −4 in butyrate-fed cows may have contributed to increased serum Hp concentration in these cows; elevated serum Hp concentration has been reported alongside increased plasma FA concentrations (Stengärde et al, 2008;Kvidera et al, 2017;Haisain et al, 2021), perhaps due to their associations with fatty liver (Katoh and Nakagawa, 1999).…”

Glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2) in bovine colostrum and transition milk

“…Concentrations of GLP-2 in colostrum were 5.53 ± 1.07 ng/mL (mean ± SE) on average, which was significantly higher ( P < 0.01) than concentrations in plasma of cows at 7 d before the expected parturition date (0.87 ± 0.15 ng/mL on average and ranged from 0.22 to 1.79 ng/mL) and at parturition (d 0) (0.90 ± 0.15 ng/mL on average and ranged from 0.45 to 1.82 ng/mL) in the current study ( Table 2 ). Previous studies have reported that plasma concentrations of GLP-2 were no higher than 1.0 ng/mL in mature sheep [ 22 ] and in lactating dairy cows [ 23 ]. Higher concentrations of hormones in colostrum compared with maternal blood are not unique to GLP-2 because concentrations of insulin and IGF-1 were reported to be higher in colostrum than in maternal blood [ 21 , 24 ].…”