Abstract
BackgroundPrenatal nutrition is crucial for embryonic development and neonatal growth, and has the potential to be a main determinant of life-long health. In the present study, we used a layer chick model to investigate the effects of in ovo feeding (IOF) of L-arginine (Arg) on growth, intestinal development, intestinal microbiota and metabolism. The treatments included the non-injected control, saline-injected control, and saline containing 2, 6, or 10 mg Arg groups.ResultsIOF Arg increased early intestinal index and villus height, and enhanced uptake of residual yolk lipid, contributing to subsequent improvement in the early growth performance of chicks. Prenatal Arg supplementation also increased the early microbial α-diversity, the relative abundance of Lactobacillales and Clostridiales, and decreased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria of cecum in chicks. Furthermore, the shift of cecal microbiota composition and the colonization of potential probiotics were accelerated by IOF of Arg. Simultaneously, metabolomics showed that metabolisms of galactose, taurine-conjugated bile acids and lipids were modulated to direct more energy and nutrients towards rapid growth of intestine at the beginning of post-hatch when embryos received IOF of Arg.ConclusionsPrenatal Arg supplementation showed beneficial effects on the early intestinal development, cecal microbiota and host metabolism of layer chicks, contributing to subsequent improvement in the early growth performance. These findings provide new insight into the role of IOF of Arg in the establishment of the gut microbiota of newly-hatched layer chicks, and can expand our fundamental knowledge about prenatal nutrition, early bacterial colonization and intestinal development in neonate.
Highlights
Prenatal nutrition is crucial for embryonic development and neonatal growth, and has the potential to be a main determinant of life-long health [1]
We found that the Average daily gain (ADG) (P = 0.021, P = 0.032, respectively) and Average daily feed intake (ADFI) (P = 0.037, P = 0.044, respectively) during d 15 to 21 were linearly and quadratically increased by in ovo feeding (IOF) of Arg
This study showed that Arg supplementation triggered increase in Ruminococcaceae concurrent with a reduction of taurochenodeoxycholate, taurodeoxycholate and tauroursodeoxycholic acid, suggesting the intestinal microbiota of birds supplemented Arg became more efficient in regulating primary bile acid metabolism
Summary
Prenatal nutrition is crucial for embryonic development and neonatal growth, and has the potential to be a main determinant of life-long health [1]. Arg could upregulate the gene expression of mTOR cell signaling pathway which increased enterocytes protein synthesis [12] These data indicate that multiple mechanisms are responsible for the effects of IOF of Arg on intestinal development. In ovo administration of bacterial candidates, prebiotics and synbiotics have been shown to stimulate intestinal environment, trigger gut-associated lymphoid tissue maturation and alter the microbial population [18,19,20] Another question is whether prenatal Arg supplementation affects the initial microbiome colonization which needs to be explored. We used a layer chick model to investigate the effects of in ovo feeding (IOF) of L-arginine (Arg) on growth, intestinal development, intestinal microbiota and metabolism. The treatments included the non-injected control, saline-injected control, and saline containing 2, 6, or 10 mg Arg groups
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