Abstract
BackgroundThe liver plays important roles in nutrient metabolism, detoxification and immunity. Enterococcus faecium (E. faecium) is a probiotic that has been shown to have positive effects on broiler production. However, its molecular effects on liver metabolism have not been characterized. This study aims to further identify the biological roles of E. faecium by characterizing the hepatic proteomic changes of broilers (Gallus gallus) fed E. faecium using two-dimensional fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis (2-D DIGE) and mass spectrometry (MS).ResultsThirty-three proteins (50 protein spots) involved in nutrient metabolism, immunity and the antioxidant system were shown to be differentially expressed in the liver of broilers fed E. faecium than from birds not fed the probiotic. The biological processes of sulphur amino acids, vitamin and cellular hormone metabolism, sulphur compound biosynthesis and protein tetramerization were enhanced in the liver of broilers fed E. faecium. However, proteins involved in calcium ion flux, cell redox homeostasis and platelet activation related to hepatic immune responses were down-regulated in broilers fed E. faecium. These results indicate that the supplementation of poultry feed with E. faecium may alter the partitioning of nutrients and promote optimal nutrient utilization.ConclusionsThis study assists in unraveling the molecular effects of the dietary probiotic, E. faecium, in the liver of broiler chickens. It shows that the probiotic improves the metabolism of nutrients and decreases inflammatory responses. Our findings extend previous knowledge of the mechanism of dietary probiotic action and provide new findings for research and future probiotic development.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-2371-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
The liver plays important roles in nutrient metabolism, detoxification and immunity
As one of the direct-fed microorganism strains recognized by the Association of American Feed Control Officials, E. faecium is permitted as a probiotic supplement for broiler chicken diets [7, 8]
We have shown that this probiotic induced proteome changes that improved broiler meat quality and yield [14]
Summary
The liver plays important roles in nutrient metabolism, detoxification and immunity. Enterococcus faecium (E. faecium) is a probiotic that has been shown to have positive effects on broiler production. Zheng et al BMC Genomics (2016) 17:89 immune organ development [9], increased diversity of the gut microbial population [10], resistance to infection [11], changes of antioxidant status [7, 10], and increased intestinal absorptive surface area [10, 12, 13]. The latter two effects have been demonstrated in our previous studies of the proteome responses of the intestinal mucosa of broilers fed E. faecium [9]. We have shown that this probiotic induced proteome changes that improved broiler meat quality and yield [14]
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