Dietary Resveratrol Ameliorates Hepatic Fatty Acid Metabolism and Jejunal Barrier in Offspring Induced by Maternal Oxidized Soybean Oil Challenge.

Increasing evidence indicates that maternal exposure to oxidized soybean oil (OSO) causes damage to the mother and offspring. The antioxidant resveratrol (Res) has a variety of health benefits. However, the protective effect of Res on mitigating offspring damage after maternal exposure to OSO and its mechanism remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of Res on hepatic fatty acid metabolism and the jejunal barrier in suckling piglets after maternal OSO exposure. A total of 18 sows in late gestation were randomly assigned to three treatments. The sows were fed with a fresh soybean oil (FSO) diet, an OSO diet, or the OSO diet supplemented with 300 mg/kg Res (OSO + Res), respectively. The results showed that maternal supplementation of Res restored the mRNA levels of genes related to fatty acid metabolism and increased the activities of catalase (CAT) and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) in suckling piglets' livers under the OSO challenge. Moreover, the OSO + Res group restored the mRNA levels of occludin and claudin 4 in suckling piglet jejunum compared with the results of the OSO challenges. In summary, supplementation with Res improves hepatic fatty acid metabolism and intestinal barrier function of suckling piglets after maternal OSO challenge during late gestation and lactation.

Branched-chain amino acid modulation of lipid metabolism, gluconeogenesis, and inflammation in a finishing pig model: targeting leucine and valine.

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) play a regulatory role in adipogenesis and energy balance. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of BCAA supplements, especially leucine (Leu) and valine (Val) supplementation, on lipid metabolism and related disorders in a finishing pig model. The results demonstrated that Leu (1%) and Val decreased serum as well as hepatic lipid accumulation. Moreover, metabolomics and lipidomics analyses revealed that Leu and Val markedly downregulated the level of various lipid species in the liver. This outcome may be explained by Leu and Val promoting cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)/protein kinase A (PKA)/hormone-sensitive triglyceride lipase (HSL) signaling pathways. Leu and Val altered the fatty acid composition in distinct adipose tissues and decreased the levels of inflammatory factors. Additionally, they significantly decreased back fat thickness, and the results of the fatty acid profiles demonstrated that Leu and Val significantly increased the levels of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) while decreasing those of saturated fatty acids (SFAs), especially in back fat and abdominal fat. Besides, Leu and Val restored glucose homeostasis by suppressing gluconeogenesis through the serine/threonine protein kinase (AKT)/transcription factor forkhead box O1 (FOXO1) signaling pathway in the liver and back fat. In summary, these results suggest that Leu and Val may serve as key regulators for modulating lipid metabolism and steatosis.

Lycopene improves maternal reproductive performance by modulating milk composition and placental antioxidative and immune status.

Placental health and milk quality are important for maternal reproductive performance during pregnancy and lactation. Lycopene plays an important role in antioxidation, anti-inflammation and regulating lipid metabolism. The goal of the present study was to investigate the effects of dietary lycopene supplementation in the pig model on reproductive performance, placental health and milk composition during maternal gestation and lactation. In the present study, the litter size of live piglets was increased and the litter size of dead piglets was decreased by lycopene supplementation of the diet of sows. The litter weight at birth and weaning were increased in the lycopene group. Through placental proteomics, we enriched differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), gene ontology (GO) terms, and Kyoto encyclopedia of proteins and genomes (KEGG) pathways involved in immunity, anti-inflammation, antioxidants, and lipid metabolism and transport. Furthermore, in terms of placental health, we analyzed the levels of related enzymes, metabolites and mRNA expression in the placenta. Lycopene was shown to reduce mRNA expression and the levels of placental inflammatory factors, increase the content of immunoglobulin, improve the antioxidant capacity, and improve lipid metabolism and lipid transport in the placenta. In terms of sow milk composition, lycopene increased the levels of immunoglobulins in colostrum and lactose in colostrum and milk. Overall, the results of the present study demonstrate that dietary lycopene supplementation of sows during gestation and lactation improves the reproductive performance to a certain extent; this may be due to lycopene improving the placental health and milk composition of sows.

Maternal dietary resveratrol alleviates weaning-associated diarrhea and intestinal inflammation in pig offspring by changing intestinal gene expression and microbiota.

Early weaning commonly results in gastrointestinal disorders, inflammation and diarrhea in infants and young animals. Resveratrol, a plant phenol, affords protection against inflammation and cancer. A porcine model was used to investigate the effects of maternal dietary resveratrol on diarrhea, intestinal inflammation and the intestinal morphology in offspring during weaning. The results showed that maternal dietary resveratrol alleviated weaning-associated intestinal inflammation and diarrhea and improved the intestinal morphology in offspring. In weaning piglets, maternal dietary resveratrol increased the proportion of butyrate-producing bacteria, such as Flavonifractor, Odoribacter and Oscillibacter, as determined by 16S rRNA sequencing. RNA-seq analysis identified 189 and 139 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in weaning and post-weaning piglets, respectively. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis showed that DEGs were enriched for the T cell receptor, primary immunodeficiency, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and Ras signaling pathways in weaning piglets and for the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction pathway and metabolism-related pathways in post-weaning piglets.

Changes in glucose metabolism and mRNA expression of IRS-2 in rats exposed to phoxim and the protective effects of vitamin E.

Research has shown that organophosphorus pesticides impair glucose homeostasis and cause insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. The current study investigates the influence of phoxim on insulin signaling pathways and the protective effects of vitamin E. Phoxim (180 mg kg-1) and VE (200 mg kg-1) were administered orally to Sprague-Dawley rats over a period of 28 consecutive days. After exposure to phoxim, the animals showed glucose intolerance and hyperinsulinemia during glucose tolerance tests, and insulin tolerance tests demonstrated an impaired glucose-lowering effect of insulin. Phoxim increases the fasting glucose, insulin and cholesterol levels, as well as the liver hexokinase activity (HK) significantly while decreasing the high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and glycogen content in the liver and skeletal muscles observably. Furthermore, we observed an increase of insulin resistance biomarkers and a decrease of insulin sensitivity indices. The insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-2 mRNA expressions of liver and skeletal muscles were down-regulated by phoxim, while the expression of IRS-1 showed no difference. There were no differences in triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, and fasting glucose treated with phoxim. On the basis of biochemical and molecular findings, phoxim has been determined to impair glucose homeostasis through insulin resistance and insulin signaling pathway disruptions resulting in a reduced function of insulin in hepatocytes and muscles. VE supplementation reduced the fasting glucose, increased the glycogen content and HDL-cholesterol, but did not reduce the insulin resistance indices, when phoxim-treated rats were compared to VE supplemented rats. Overall, this study shows that vitamin E modifies the phoxim toxicity in rats only to a moderate degree.

Effects of dietary lecithin and l-carnitine on fatty acid composition and lipid-metabolic genes expression in subcutaneous fat and longissimus thoracis of growing-finishing pigs.

A 2×2 factorial experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary lecithin and l-carnitine on fatty acid composition and lipid-metabolic genes expression in subcutaneous fat and longissimus thoracis of growing-finishing pigs. 160 barrows were assigned to 4 treatments consisting of 8 replicates with 5 pigs in each. The total PUFA, C18:2n-6 and C18:3n-3 in subcutaneous fat were increased by lecithin but the effect of lecithin was dependent of l-carnitine where supplementation of lecithin together with l-carnitine decreased total PUFA, C18:2n-6 and C18:3n-3. l-Carnitine increased the intramuscular fat content when supplemented with lecithin but no effect was observed without lecithin supplementation. l-Carnitine increased the mRNA expression of CPT1A, HSL, FABP4 and CRAT; and reduced the mRNA expression of FAS and ACCα in subcutaneous fat. Lecithin increased the mRNA expression of ACCα and ME1 in longissimus thoracis. l-Carnitine increased the mRNA expression of FAS in longissimus thoracis when supplemented with lecithin but no effect was observed without lecithin supplementation.