Effects of Arginine Supplementation on Serum Metabolites and the Rumen Bacterial Community of Sika Deer (Cervus nippon).

Huazhe Si,Guangyu Li,Hanlu Liu,Yujie Lou,Weixiao Nan,Zhipeng Li

doi:10.3389/fvets.2021.630686

Abstract

Velvet antler is a regeneration organ of sika deer (Cervus nippon) and an important Chinese medicine, and nutrient metabolism affects its growth. Here, we investigated the effects of arginine supplementation on antler growth, serum biochemical indices, and the rumen bacterial community of sika deer during the antler growth period. Fifteen male sika deer (6 years old) were randomly assigned to three dietary groups, which were supplemented with 0 (n = 5, CON), 2.5 (n = 5, LArg), or 5.0 g/d (n = 5, HArg) L-arginine. The IGF-1, ALT and AST concentrations in the serum of LArg sika deer were significantly higher than those in the serum of CON (P < 0.05) and HArg deer (P < 0.05). The phyla Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria were dominant in the rumen of sika deer among the three groups. Comparison of alpha diversities showed that the ACE and Chao1 indices significantly increased in the LArg and HArg groups compared with those in the CON group. PCoA and ANOSIM results showed that the bacterial community was significantly changed between the CON and LArg groups. Moreover, the relative abundances of Fibrobacter spp. and Prevotellaceae UCG-003 increased, but those of Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Corynebacterium 1 decreased in the LArg and HArg groups compared with those in the CON group. Additionally, the relative abundances of 19 OTUs were significantly different between the LArg and HArg groups. These results revealed that arginine supplementation affected the sika deer rumen bacterial community and serum biochemical indices.

Highlights

Sika deer (Cervus nippon) is an important ruminant species that produces traditional Chinese medicine and provides meat and fur to humans [1]
Previous studies showed that supplementation with arginine in the diet increased the insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) concentration in the serum of sheep and cows [10, 11]. These results suggested that supplementation with arginine in the diet is likely to increase the concentration of IGF-1 in sika deer and improve velvet antler production
The results showed that there were no significant differences in the average daily gain and final weight of velvet antler among the three groups (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Sika deer (Cervus nippon) is an important ruminant species that produces traditional Chinese medicine and provides meat and fur to humans [1]. The velvet antler is an organ that can be completely regenerated each year [2, 3]. The regeneration rate of velvet antler is even faster than the proliferation of cancer cells. There are ∼800,000 farmed sika deer in China for velvet antler production [4]. The improvement of velvet antler production is critical in sika deer productivity. The growth of velvet antler is affected by several factors, such as genetic factors, dietary conditions and hormones [5, 6]. Wang et al [7] demonstrated that growth factors and receptor

Methods

Results

Conclusion