Background: Betaine affects fat metabolism in animals, but the specific mechanism is still not clear. The purpose of this study was to investigate possible mechanisms of betaine in altering lipid metabolism in muscle tissue in finishing pigs.Methods: A total of 120 crossbred gilts(Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc) with an average initial body weight of 70.1 kg were randomly allotted to three dietary treatments. The treatments included a corn–soybean meal basal diet supplemented with 0, 1250 or 2500 mg/kg betaine. The feeding experiment lasted 42 d.Results: Betaine addition to the diet significantly increased the concentration of free fatty acids(FFA) in muscle(P < 0.05). Furthermore, the levels of serum cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were decreased(P < 0.05) and total cholesterol content was increased in muscle(P < 0.05) of betaine fed pigs. Experiments on genes involved in fatty acid transport showed that betaine increased expression of lipoprotein lipase(LPL), fatty acid translocase/cluster of differentiation(FAT/CD36), fatty acid binding protein(FABP3) and fatty acid transport protein(FATP1)(P < 0.05). The abundance of fatty acid transport protein and fatty acid binding protein were also increased by betaine(P < 0.05). As for the key factors involved in fatty acid oxidation, although betaine supplementation didn't affect the level of carnitine and malonyl-CoA, betaine increased mR NA and protein abundance of carnitine palmitransferase-1(CPT1)and phosphorylated-AMPK(P < 0.05).Conclusions: The results suggested that betaine may promoted muscle fatty acid uptake via up-regulating the genes related to fatty acid transporter including FAT/CD36, FATP1 and FABP3. On the other hand, betaine activated AMPK and up-regulated genes related to fatty acid oxidation including PPARα and CPT1. The underlying mechanism regulating fatty acid metabolism in pigs supplemented with betaine is associated with the up-regulation of genes involved in fatty acid transport and fatty acid oxidation.
D-Lactate-utilizing bacteria play important roles in maintaining the balance of gut lactate; however, studies on gut D-lactate-utilizing bacteria have been limited. This study aimed to isolate and identify D-lactate-utilizing bacteria from pig gut using the Hungate roll-tube method, and to investigate their metabolic characteristics in vitro. Six different anaerobes were isolated from pig feces, which were identified as related to Bacteroides fragilis, Bacteroides acidifaciens, Veillonella denticariosi, Veillonella caviae, Bacteroides uniformis, and Megasphaera elsdenii based on the 16 S r RNA gene sequences. All strains had a significant ability to utilize D-lactate, which was concluded after in vitro fermentation with 25 mmol L–1 D-lactate as the primary carbon source. Of all 6 strains, M. elsdenii J6 showed the highest efficiency of D-lactate utilization and produced a higher ratio of butyrate in total short chain fatty acids(SCFAs). Thus, the in vitro fermentation characteristics of this strain in D-, L-, and DL-lactate mixtures(D-lactate:L-lactate=1:1 or 1:2) were further studied. The results showed that M. elsdenii J6 preferred utilizing D-lactate, and produced more SCFA when using D-lactate as the primary carbon source. The findings suggest that the administration of D-lactate-utilizing bacteria such as M. elsdenii J6 may have a potential advantage in the alleviation of D-lactic acidosis in the animal gut.
Erhualian and Landrace breeds are typical genetically obese and lean pigs, respectively. To compare the fecal methanogenic Archaeal community between these two pig breeds, fecal samples from different growth phase pigs were collected and used for PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis(DGGE) with two primer pairs(344fGC/519r and 519f/915rGC) and real-time PCR analysis. Results showed that a better separation and higher quality of bands pattern were obtained in DGGE profiles using primers 344fGC/519r as compared with primers 519f/915rGC. Sequencing of DGGE bands showed that the predominant methanogens in the feces of Erhualian and Landrace pigs belonged to Methanobrevibacter spp. and Methanosphaera spp. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that there was no significant difference in the numbers of fecal total methanogens between Erhualian and Landrace pigs; however, pig growth phase affected the numbers of 16S rRNA genes of total methanogens and Methanobrevibacter smithii. Dissociation curves of methyl coenzyme-M reductase subunit A(mcrA) gene fragments amplified with real-time PCR showed all samples possessed a single peak at 82?C, which might be associated with M. smithii. Samples from the same growth phase of each breed showed good replicative dissociation curves. The results suggest that the growth phase(including diet factor) other than genotype of pig may affect the fecal methanogenic Archaeal community of pigs.
