Abstract
Simple SummaryDairy cow mastitis is an inflammatory disease often caused by bacterial infections. In the present study, we identified the ruminal microbial biomarkers and metabolites of mastitis in dairy cows. The investigation of the reciprocal interrelationships among the ruminal microbiota, metabolome, and mastitis revealed that short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing microflora and the metabolites related to anti-inflammation and antibacterial activity were significantly higher in healthy cows than in those with mastitis. The identified potential species and metabolites might provide a novel perspective to assist in targeting the ruminal microbiota with preventive/therapeutic strategies against mastitis in the future.Mastitis in dairy cow significantly affects animal performance, ultimately reducing profitability. The reciprocal interrelationships among ruminal microbiota, metabolome, and mastitis combining early inflammatory factors (serum proinflammatory cytokines) in lactating dairy cows has not been explored, thus, this study evaluated these reciprocal interrelationships in early lactating Holstein dairy cows to identify potential microbial biomarkers and their relationship with ruminal metabolites. The ruminal fluid was sampled from 8 healthy and 8 mastitis cows for the microbiota and metabolite analyses. The critical ruminal microbial biomarkers and metabolites related to somatic cell counts (SCC) and serum proinflammatory cytokines were identified by the linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) algorithm and Spearman’s correlation analysis, respectively. The SCC level and proinflammatory cytokines positively correlated with Sharpea and negatively correlated with Ruminococcaceae UCG-014, Ruminococcus flavefaciens, and Treponema saccharophilum. Furthermore, the metabolites xanthurenic acid, and 1-(1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl) ethan-1-ol positively correlated with microbial biomarkers of healthy cows, whereas, xanthine, pantothenic acid, and anacardic acid were negatively correlated with the microbial biomarkers of mastitis cows. In conclusion, Ruminococcus flavefaciens and Treponema saccharophilum are potential strains for improving the health of dairy cows. The current study provides a novel perspective to assist in targeting the ruminal microbiota with preventive/therapeutic strategies against inflammatory diseases in the future.
Highlights
Calving and lactation are common events that often result in inflammation in dairy cows [1], leading to local and systemic signs of illness, such as uterine diseases and mastitis [2]
Eight healthy cows were assigned to the HC group, and eight mastitis cows were assigned to the mastitic group (MC) group
After confirming the physiological condition of the cows, we further investigated whether mastitis could affect the ruminal microbiota, including bacteria, archaea, protozoa, and fungi, using nextgeneration sequencing (NGS)
Summary
Calving and lactation are common events that often result in inflammation in dairy cows [1], leading to local and systemic signs of illness, such as uterine diseases and mastitis [2]. Dysbiosis in gastrointestinal microbiota is characterized as the loss of commensals/keystone taxa or diversity [7,8] and may cause mastitis because the composition and activity of the indigenous microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract directly affect the health of dairy cows through the production of metabolites, competition for nutrients, and immune system regulation [9]. Fecal material transplanted from diseased but not healthy cows caused mastitis in germ-free mice [11], the gastrointestinal microbiota may play a crucial role in inflammation outside the gastrointestinal tract
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