Sodium butyrate promotes gastrointestinal development of preweaning bull calves via inhibiting inflammation,balancing nutrient metabolism,and optimizing microbial community functions

Butyrate promotes the growth and gastrointestinal development of calves.But,the mechanisms behind its effects on signaling pathways of the gastrointestinal tract and rumen microbiome is unclear.This study aimed to reveal transcriptomic pathways of gastrointestinal epithelium and microbial community in response to butyrate supplementation in calves fed a high fiber starter.Fourteen Holstein bull calves(39.9±3.7 kg,14 d of age)were assigned to 2 groups(sodium butyrate group,SB;control group,Ctrl).The SB group received 0.5%SB supplementation.At d 51,the calves were slaughtered to obtain samples for analysis of the transcriptome of the rumen and jejunum epithelium as well as ruminal microbial metagenome.Sodium butyrate supplementation resulted in a higher performance in average daily gain and development of jejunum and rumen papillae.In both the rumen and jejunum epithelium,SB downregulated pathways related to inflammation including NF-κB(PPKCB,CXCL8,CXCL12),interleukin-17(IL17A,IL17B,MMP9),and chemokine(CXCL12,CCL4,CCL8)and up-regulated immune pathways including the intestinal immune network for immunoglobulin A(IgA)production(CD28).Meanwhile,in the jejunum epithelium,SB regulated pathways related to nutritional metabolism including nitrogen metabolism(CA1,CA2,CA3),synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies(HMGCS2,BDH1,LOC100295719),fat digestion and absorption(PLA2G2F,APOA1,APOA4),and the PPAR signaling pathway(FABP4,FABP6,CYP4A11).The metagenome showed that SB greatly increased the relative abundance of Bacillus subtilis and Eubacterium limosum,activated ruminal microbial carbohydrate metabolism pathways and increased the abundance of carbohydrate hydrolysis enzymes.In conclusion,butyrate exhibited promoting effects on growth and gastrointestinal development by inhibiting inflammation,enhancing immunity and energy harvesting,and activating microbial carbohydrate metabolism.These findings provide new insights into the potential mechanisms behind the beneficial effects of butyrate in calf nutrition.

Dietary supplementation of yeast cell wall improves the gastrointestinal development of weaned calves

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential benefits of yeast cell wall(YCW)on the gastrointestinal development of weaned calves.Twenty healthy Holstein male calves(BW=92±8.29 kg and 60±5 d of age)were randomly allocated into 2 groups:CON with no YCW,and YCW(accounted for0.16%of the basal diet).The dietary concentrate-to-roughage ratio was 40:60.All the calves were fed regularly twice a day at 09:00 and 16:00 and had free access to water.The experiment lasted for 60 d.The results showed that calves fed YCW showed higher(P<0.05)length,width,and surface area of papillae in the ventral sac of the rumen as compared to CON.For the dorsal sac of the rumen,the muscularis thickness was thicker(P<0.05)in the YCW group when compared with CON group.The villus height of YCW calves was higher(P<0.05)than that of CON in the ileum.Calves supplemented with YCW also showed a higher(P<0.05)villus height-to-crypt depth ratio in the ileum.The YCW calves exhibited a greater(P<0.05)thickness of the wall in the duodenum and jejunum.Calves supplemented with YCW improved(P<0.05)the claudin 1 mRNA expression in the ileum and occludin mRNA expression in the jejunum and ileum.The YCW increased(P<0.05)the contents of secretory immunoglobulin A in the jejunum and ileum of calves.In conclusion,dietary supplementation with YCW could improve the gastrointestinal development of weaned calves.

Supplementing oat hulls to the diet of suckling piglets altered their intestinal tract and colonic microbiota development

Current study evaluated the effect of a fine and coarsely ground insoluble dietary fibre source on the gastrointestinal development of suckling pigs.Oat hulls(OH)were selected as a model feedstuff,rich in cellulose,lignin,and insoluble dietary fibre.Three experimental supplemental diets were formulated:a finely ground,low fibre and nutrient dense diet served as control(CON).For the 2 high fibre diets,15%heat-treated starch in CON was exchanged with OH,either finely(OH-f)or coarsely ground(OH-c).Litters of 10 primi-and multiparous sows(mean litter size 14.6±0.84)were used.Within a litter,experimental diets were allotted to triplets of 4 piglets.From approximately 12 d of age,piglets’individual feed intakes were recorded 2 times per day when separated from their dam for 70 min.Piglets could suckle with their dam for the remainder of the day.On d 24 and 25,from the total pool of 120 piglets,seven healthy well-eating piglets per treatment were selected for post-mortem evaluation,resulting in 14 replicates per treatment.Consumption of OH-c and OH-f did not impede clinical health and production performance of piglets.The full stomach weights tended to be greater for OH-c compared to OH-f whereas CON was intermediate(P=0.083).Supplementing OH significantly increased ileal villus height and caecal dry matter concentration(P<0.05).For the colon,OH increased its length,contents weight,short-chain fatty acid concentration and reduced total bacterial count as well asγ-proteobacteria count and proportion(P<0.05).The OH-c treatment specifically increased full gastrointestinal tract weight and caecum contents weight compared to piglets fed CON and OH-f.Furthermore,OH-c reduced colonic crypt depth when compared to OH-f(P=0.018).In conclusion,supplementing OH to a diet for suckling piglets exerted subtle developmental effects on gastrointestinal morphology and colonic microbial community.These effects were largely independent from the particle size of the OH.

Modeling endodermal organ development and diseases using human pluripotent stem cell-derived organoids

Recent advances in development of protocols for directed differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells(hPSCs)to defined lineages,in combination with 3D organoid technology,have facilitated the generation of various endoderm-derived organoids for in vitro modeling of human gastrointestinal development and associated diseases.In this review,we discuss current state-ofthe-art strategies for generating hPSC-derived endodermal organoids including stomach,liver,pancreatic,small intestine,and colonic organoids.We also review the advantages of using this system to model various human diseases and evaluate the shortcomings of this technology.Finally,we emphasize how other technologies,such as genome editing and bioengineering,can be incorporated into the 3D hPSC-organoid models to generate even more robust and powerful platforms for understanding human organ development and disease modeling.