Gut microbiota as a target in the bone health of livestock and poultry: roles of short-chain fatty acids

The regulation and maintenance of bone metabolic homeostasis are crucial for animal skeletal health.It has been established that structural alterations in the gut microbiota and ecological dysbiosis are closely associated with bone metabolic homeostasis.The gut microbiota and its metabolites,especially short-chain fatty acids(SCFAs),affect almost all organs,including the bone.n this process,SCFAs positively affect bone healing by acting directly on cells involved in bone repair after or by shaping appropriate anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory responses:Addi-tionally,SCFAs have the potential to maintain bone health in livestock and poultry because of their various biological functions in regulating bone metabolism,including immune function,calcium absorption,osteogenesis and oste-olysis.This review primarily focuses on the role of sCFAs in the regulation of bone metabolism by gut microbiota and provides insight into studies related to bone health in livestock and poultry.

Effects of the fenugreek extracts on high-fat diet-fed and streptozotocin-induced type 2 diabetic mice

Background: To study the antidiabetic effects and mechanisms of the fenugreek extracts in streptozotocin(STZ)-induced type 2 diabetic(T2 DM) mice fed a high-fat diet(HFD).Methods: We established C57 BL/6 J mice model of T2 DM using HFD-fed and STZinduced method. Then, the mice were administered with two types of fenugreek extracts(E1, flavonoid and E2, stilbene glycoside) for 4 weeks and the effects on fasting blood glucose(FBG), weight, superoxide dismutase(SOD), catalase(CAT),malondialdehyde(MDA), and pathological indexes were investigated.Results: Administration of fenugreek extracts decreased the FBG level compared with that of the model group. Comparatively, the high-dose E2 decreased the FBG more significantly than the other treatments did. Both extracts showed an obvious antioxidant effect by increasing serum SOD and CAT activities and decreasing the MDA content. Furthermore, the high-dose E1 showed a significant difference(P <.01) compared with the model group in the three investigated indexes.Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that both the flavonoid and stilbene glycoside extracts of fenugreek improved the hyperglycemia in the T2 DM mice model. Moreover, the antidiabetic effects of both extracts might be due to their antioxidant activity in vivo.