Microbial Mechanistic Insights into the Role of Sweet Potato Vine on Improving Health in Chinese Meishan Gilt Model

Abstract

Simple SummarySweet potato vine as a source of fiber had been used in China for many years. We investigated the effects of fresh sweet potato vine on intestinal and plasma metabolites as well as colon microbial composition in Chinese Meishan gilts. Results suggest that sweet potato vine promoted intestinal muscle development, decreased gut permeability, endotoxin and pro-inflammatory cytokines concentrations, and increased butyrate production as well as beneficial flora, thus improving gut health.AbstractThis study explored the impact of fresh sweet potato vine on the growth as well as the metabolites and colon microbial composition in Chinese Meishan gilt. Twenty Meishan gilts (body weight 30 ± 0.18 kg, n = 10 per treatment) were randomly assigned to a control (CON) or sweet potato vine (SPV) supplementation diet treatment. Gilts were housed in individual stalls. In the SPV treatment, 2 kg fresh sweet potato vine was used instead of 0.18 kg basal diet which provided the same amount of digestive energy and crude protein with the exception of crude fiber (CON, 51.00 g/d vs. SPV, 73.94 g/d) in terms of dry matter intake. Gilts were slaughtered and samples were collected on day 19 after the third estrus cycle. The SPV treatment tended to increase slaughter weight of gilts (p = 0.07); it also increased (p < 0.05) gastrointestinal tract weight and intestinal muscle layer thickness. SPV treatment also decreased (p < 0.05) carcass yield and subcutaneous adipose tissue. The concentration of zonulin and endotoxin in plasma was decreased (p < 0.05) as the gilt consumed the SPV diet. Colonic fecal concentrations of endotoxin, lipocalin-2, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were decreased (p < 0.05), and interleukin-10 (IL-10) was increased (p < 0.05) in the SPV treatment. Butyric acid and acetate concentration in colonic content as well as acetate concentration in caecal content were increased (p < 0.05) in the SPV treatment. Furthermore, the expression of carnitine palmityl transferase (CPT-1) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPAR-α) in gilt liver in SPV treatment was increased (p < 0.05) in comparison with CON treatment. Meanwhile, the composition of the colon microbes was also altered by SPV; representative changes included an increase in Lactobacillus, Bacteroides, Roseburia, and Lachnospira. These results indicate that gilt fed with sweet potato vine had decreased gut permeability, endotoxin and pro-inflammatory cytokines concentrations; colonic fecal microbiota was also changed, which may be further beneficial to the intestinal health of Chinese Meishan gilt.

Effects of Zinc Oxide and Arginine on the Intestinal Microbiota and Immune Status of Weaned Pigs Subjected to High Ambient Temperature

“…The increased gene expressions of TNF-α, IL-6, and IFNγ were noticed in salmonella-challenged pigs [36]. It has been reported that lactic acid bacteria downregulate the gene expression of inflammatory cytokines [37]. In addition, the higher number of eosinophils in pigs fed the Con diet may be responsible for higher gene expression of cytokines.…”

Analysis of Gut Microbiota and Metabolites in Diannan Small Ear Sows at Diestrus and Metestrus

“…Our findings revealed that Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes are the most abundant phylum in sow’s intestines, accounting for more than 90% of the total sequence, which is consistent with an earlier study ( Kim et al, 2012 ; Poole et al, 2013 ). Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes play a critical role in maintaining the normal physiological function of the intestinal tract and microbial balance, which is of great significance to the growth and health of animals ( Armougom and Raoult, 2008 ; Xu et al, 2019 ).…”

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Screened Lactic Acid Bacteria in Improving Crop Residues Silage: Fermentation Parameter, Nitrogen Fraction, and Bacterial Community

“…China is the main producer of these two crops with a crop yield of 53 million and 17.73 million tons per year (FAOSTAT, 2020 ), necessarily with large biomass of their byproducts produced, which could be an important feed resource if well used. In practice, dietary inclusion of fresh SPV could promote follicular development of Chinese Meishan gilt and increase beneficial flora abundance (Xu et al, 2019 ; Zhang et al, 2019 ), and supplementing SPV to goats fed grass hay-based diet could improve growth performance and carcass traits, spare conventional concentrate, and improve production benefits (Tadesse et al, 2013 ). Likewise, PS contains about 60% total digestible nutrients and 14% crude protein along with medium fiber level (Sallam et al, 2019 ), and it could be used as a sole diet in goat feeding (Yusiati et al, 2016 ).…”