Abstract
To investigate the effects of niacin on rumen fermentation, rumen epithelial antioxidant activity, and rumen epithelial cell apoptosis on high concentrate (HC) diets, nine male Hu sheep were randomly fed one of three diets: low concentrate diet (LC; concentrate: forage (C:F) = 20:80, high concentrate diet (HC; C:F = 80:20), and HCN diet (HC diet + niacin at 800mg/kg diet air-dry matter). Compared with the LC group, the HC group had a lower rumen pH, higher volatile fatty acids and lactic acid in the rumen, reduced activity of antioxidant enzymes and total antioxidant capacity, and increased malondialdehyde content in the rumen epithelium (P < 0.05). Rumen epithelial papilla morphology was decreased, and apoptosis-related indicators and serum inflammatory cytokines were increased in the HC group over the LC group (P < 0.05). Compared with the HC diet, the HCN diet increased rumen pH, rumen epithelium antioxidant capacity, and rumen epithelial papilla morphology, decreased rumen lactate content, serum inflammatory cytokines, and apoptosis-related indicators (P < 0.05). Therefore, adding 800mg/kg niacin helped protect against rumen epithelial damage by avoiding drastic changes in the rumen environment and improved rumen epithelial antioxidant capacity to inhibit rumen epithelial cell apoptosis in sheep on a HC diet.
Highlights
The integrity of the rumen epithelial structure is necessary for the executive function of rumen digestion, absorption, and epithelial barriers (John et al 2011)
The rumen pH value was lower in the high concentrate (HC) and HCN groups than in the LC group (P < 0.05), while the rumen pH was higher in the HCN group than the HC group (P < 0.05) (Table 3)
The HC and HCN groups had a higher content of acetate, propionate, butyrate, total volatile fatty acids (VFA), and lactate in the rumen fluid than the LC group (P < 0.05), while the content of acetate, propionate, butyrate, total VFA, and lactate in the rumen fluid were lower in the HCN group than the HC group (P < 0.05)
Summary
The integrity of the rumen epithelial structure is necessary for the executive function of rumen digestion, absorption, and epithelial barriers (John et al 2011). G. lipopolysaccharides: LPS), which results in the disruption of the ruminal epithelial structural integrity and further damages the barrier function of the ruminal mucosa (Mao et al 2015; Plaizier et al 2012; Sun et al 2018). These abnormal metabolites and pathogenic microorganisms migrate into the blood through the damaged rumen mucosa, leading to immunosuppression and an inflammatory response in the animal, which affect the health and production performance of ruminants (Nagaraja and Titgemeyer 2007; Plaizier et al 2012). Inhibiting SARAinduced rumen mucosal damage while maintaining the integrity of the ruminal epithelial cells is a formidable challenge that may improve ruminant health and production performance
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