Sodium Butyrate More Effectively Mitigates the Negative Effects of High-Concentrate Diet in Dairy Cows than Sodium β-Hydroxybutyrate via Reducing Free Bacterial Cell Wall Components in Rumen Fluid and Plasma.

Yongjiang Wu,Tianle He,Guozhong Dong,Yawang Sun,Junhui Liu,Guohao Huang,Ke Tian,Juncai Chen,Ruiming Zhang

doi:10.3390/toxins13050352

Yongjiang Wu, Tianle He + Show 7 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins13050352

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Abstract

The present study was aimed at investigating the effects of sodium butyrate and sodium β-hydroxybutyrate on lactation and health of dairy cows fed a high-concentrate (HC) diet. Eighty mid-lactation dairy cows with an average milk yield of 33.75 ± 5.22 kg/d were randomly allocated to four groups (n = 20 per group) and were fed either a low-concentrate (LC) diet, a HC diet, the HC diet with 1% sodium butyrate (HCSB), or the HC diet with 1% sodium β-hydroxybutyrate (HCHB). The feeding trial lasted for 7 weeks, with a 2-week adaptation period and a 5-week measurement period, and the trial started from 96 ± 13 d in milk. Sodium butyrate supplementation delayed the decline in milk production and improved milk synthesis efficiency and milk fat content. Additionally, it decreased the proinflammatory cytokines and acute phase proteins (APPs) in plasma, the leucocytes in blood, the somatic cell count (SCC) in milk, and the gene expression of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and proinflammatory cytokines in the mammary gland, due to decreasing the contents of bacterial cell wall components (lipopolysaccharide, LPS; peptidoglycan, PGN; and lipoteichoic acid, LTA) in the rumen and plasma, compared with the HC diet. Sodium β-hydroxybutyrate supplementation also improved milk yield, milk synthesis efficiency and milk fat content and partially reduced the adverse effects caused by the HC diet, but it had no effect on decreasing bacterial cell wall components in the rumen and plasma, compared with the HC diet. Collectively, both sodium butyrate and sodium β-hydroxybutyrate mitigated the negative effects of HC diet on lactation and health of dairy cows, with sodium butyrate being more effective than sodium β-hydroxybutyrate.

Highlights

To increase milk production and maximize economic benefits, dairy cows are usually fed a high-concentrate (HC) diet
HC diet increased milk yield and decreased ketone body levels in the blood, it resulted in adverse effects on milk quality and the health of dairy cows
The adverse effects included a decrease in milk fat content and rumen pH as well as an increase in bacterial cell wall components (LPS, PGN, and lipoteichoic acid (LTA)) in rumen fluid and plasma, proinflammatory cytokines and acute phase proteins (APPs) in plasma, immune cells in blood, somatic cell count (SCC) in milk, and the gene expression of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and proinflammatory cytokines in mammary cells

Summary

Introduction

To increase milk production and maximize economic benefits, dairy cows are usually fed a high-concentrate (HC) diet. Significant amounts of bacterial cell wall components translocate into blood circulation, inducing systemic and local inflammations [11]. Numerous studies [12,13] have demonstrated that HC diet feeding significantly increases the concentrations of LPS in the rumen and plasma of ruminants and induces inflammation in the rumen epithelium, the mammary gland, the liver, and so on. Several studies [14,15] have suggested that HC diet feeding significantly increases the concentration of D-glutamyl-meso-diaminopimelic acid (iE-DAP), a core component of PGN, in the rumen and plasma of dairy cows and goats and elicited inflammation in the mammary gland and liver. Whether HC diet increases the concentrations of PGN and LTA in the rumen and plasma of dairy cows has yet to be established

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