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. 2021 Oct 26:8:743410.
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.743410. eCollection 2021.

Dietary Concentrate Supplementation Alters Serum Metabolic Profiles Related to Energy and Amino Acid Metabolism in Grazing Simmental Heifers

Hao Chen  1 , Chunjie Wang  2 , Simujide Huasai  1 , Aorigele Chen  1
Affiliations

Dietary Concentrate Supplementation Alters Serum Metabolic Profiles Related to Energy and Amino Acid Metabolism in Grazing Simmental Heifers

Hao Chen et al. Front Vet Sci. .

Abstract

Supplementation plays a vital role in the growth performance of grazing heifers. We investigated the effects of maize-based concentrate supplementation on the serum metabolome in grazing heifers. Twenty-four 7-month-old heifers (211.65 ± 4.25 kg BW) were randomly divided into a supplement (SUP) group and a control (CON) group. The results indicated that concentrate supplementation increased the final body weight (BW) of grazing heifers, and the average daily gain (ADG) was 61.5% (P = 0.011) higher in the SUP group than in the CON group. Serum concentrations of total protein (TP), triglyceride (TG), and leptin were higher in the SUP group than in the CON group (p < 0.05). Supplementation increased serum metabolites and amino acids and markedly altered glucose, lipid, and protein metabolism, which contributed to the heifer growth. Furthermore, by multivariate analysis, 45 serum metabolites were identified as significantly different between the two groups. Enrichment analysis revealed that arginine biosynthesis and tryptophan metabolism as well as glycerophospholipid metabolism were significantly enriched between the two groups. We concluded that the growth potential of heifers could be improved by maize-based concentrate supplementation, and the main biological pathways affected were those related to energy and amino acid metabolism.

Keywords: concentrate supplementation; growth performance; heifer; metabolic profiles; serum.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Corresponding validation plots of orthogonal projections to latent structures-discriminate analysis (OPLS-DA) and permutation test of the OPLS-DA model (B,D) were derived from the UHPLC-QTOF/MS metabolomics profiles of serum. (A,B) and (C,D) were respectively, derived from POS and NEG for the serum samples. Blue and green respectively, represent SUP and CON administration to heifers. SUP, supplementation heifers; CON, grazing heifers. n = 7.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A,B) were respectively, derived from POS and NEG of the serum samples. In the volcano plot, each point represents a metabolite, and the point size represents the VIP value of this metabolite in the OPLS-DA model. Compared with the CON group, red indicates a significantly upregulated metabolite in the SUP group, whereas blue indicates the opposite, and gray shows no significant difference between the two groups.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Pathway analysis of differential metabolites in serum samples between the two group heifers. Each bubble in the bubble map represents a metabolic pathway. The x-axis represents a pathway impact value in the topology analysis, and larger bubbles represent higher pathway impact values. The y-axis represents the P-value (–Log p) of the metabolic pathway in the enrichment analysis, and the darker color of bubble represents higher pathway enrichment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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