Effects of Dietary Supplementation of β‐hydroxy‐β‐methylbutyrate on Sow Performance and mRNA Expression of Myogenic Markers in Skeletal Muscle of Neonatal Piglets

Abstract

The effects of dietary β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB) supplementation during gestation on reproductive performance of sows and the mRNA expression of myogenic markers in skeletal muscle of neonatal pigs were determined. At day 35 of gestation, a total of 20 sows (Landrace × Yorkshire, at third parity) were randomly assigned to two groups, with each group receiving either a basal diet or the same diet supplemented with 4 g/day β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate calcium (HMB-Ca) until parturition. At parturition, the total and live litter size were not markedly different between treatments, however, the sows fed HMB diet had a decreased rate of stillborn piglets compared with the sows fed the control (CON) diets (p < 0.05). In addition, piglets from the sows fed HMB diet tended to have an increased birth weight (p = 0.08), and a reduced rate of low birth weight piglets (p = 0.05) compared with piglets from the CON sows. Nevertheless, lower feed intake during lactation was observed in the sows fed the HMB diet compared with those on the CON diet (p < 0.01). The relative weights of the longissimus dorsi (LD) and semitendinosus (ST) muscle were higher (p < 0.05) in neonatal pigs from the HMB than the CON sows. Furthermore, maternal HMB treatment increased the mRNA levels of the myogenic genes, including muscle regulatory factor-4 (MRF4, p < 0.05), myogenic differentiation factor (MyoD) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1, p < 0.01). In conclusion, dietary HMB supplementation to sows at 4 g/day from day 35 of gestation to term significantly improves pregnancy outcomes and increases the expression of myogenic genes in skeletal muscle of neonatal piglets, but reduces feed intake of sows during lactation.

Net Absorption and Metabolism of β-Hydroxy- β-Methyl Butyrate during Late Gestation in a Pig Model

“…In animals, numerous studies have shown that dietary supplementation with HMB improved growth and production performance [29]. In the current study, maternal HMB supplementation during the late gestation had no influence on birth weight of piglets, which is in agreement with previous studies [1,5], although other studies have reported increased birth weight in response to maternal HMB supplementation [12,30]. These contradictory results may be due to the varying lengths of HMB administration, meal frequency, the doses of HMB that have been given and not least the number of animals included in the different studies.…”

“…Interest in prenatal nutritional programming has increased in both animal and human research. Moreover, it has also been demonstrated in animal studies that prenatal administration of HMB has a positive impact on postnatal growth and development [11,12]. However, there is an insufficient number of studies concerning the comprehensive distribution of metabolism when HMB is orally administered during late gestation.…”

A metabolite of leucine (β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate) given to sows during pregnancy alters bone development of their newborn offspring by hormonal modulation

“…A similar effect was observed by Wan et al . [5], who used a diet supplemented with 4 g/day HMB-Ca from day 35 of gestation to parturition and observed a higher litter birth weight [5]. On the other hand, our other study shows a decrease in the term body weight of newborn mice depending on the time of HMB supplementation and an increase in the weight of organs that was not proportional to the body size.…”

“…Our earlier studies indicated that environmental factors such as nutrition or hormonal treatment of pregnant dams program skeletal development in their offspring [7, 11, 24, 25]. Many studies indicate a significant effect of HMB on the body weight and composition caused by the anti-catabolic effect of HMB, resulting from the stimulation of its synthesis and inhibition of the degradation of muscle protein [5, 43–45]. …”

“…As a natural biologically active compound, HMB is also present in many food products such as catfish, alfalfa, asparagus, avocado, or grapefruit [3]. Oral administration of LEU or HMB enhances protein synthesis not only in skeletal muscle but also in other tissues [1, 5]. Moreover, multiple clinical studies show that HMB counteracts protein degradation in many pathological conditions like AIDS trauma bed rest, cancer cachexia, or IUGR [3, 6].…”