A feeding experiment was conducted to determine the effects of inoculating alfalfa silage with a ferulic acid esterase-producing inoculum on feed digestibility, rumen fermentation, antioxidant, and immunity status of lactating dairy goats. Twenty dairy goats were distributed into 2 experimental groups consisting of control diet (Lp MTD/1, including Lactobacillus plantarum MTD/1 inoculated silage) against diet containing silage treated with ferulic acid esterase-producing L. plantarum A1 (Lp A1). Alfalfa silage inoculated with a ferulic acid esterase-producing Lp A1 had better fermentation quality than the Lp MTD/1 inoculation. The application of Lp A1 improved silage antioxidant capacity as indicated by greater total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathion peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities in Lp A1 treated silage versus Lp MTD/1 treatment. Compared with Lp MTD/1 treated group, inoculation of silage with Lp A1 increased apparent total tract digestibility of dietary dry matter, organic matter and crude protein, and ruminal concentrations of total volatile fatty acids, acetate, propionate and isobutyrate as well. The results of current study also demonstrated improved antioxidant capacity and immune performance of dairy goats with Lp A1 inoculation. Feeding Lp A1-treated silage increased dairy goats' serum antioxidase activity, such as T-AOC, SOD, GSH-Px and catalase, and the serum concentration of immunoglobulin A, while decreased tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin (IL)-2 and IL-6. In addition, compared with Lp MTD/1, diet containing alfalfa silage inoculated with Lp A1 endowed dairy goats' milk with greater fat and protein contents, improved dairy goat milk quality without affecting feed efficiency.

We aimed to determine the effects of dietary supplementation with galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) on the growth performance, serum parameters, and the rumen microbial colonization and fermentation of pre-weaning dairy calves. The study comprised 2 phases of 28 and 42 d, respectively. During phase 1, 24 newborn female Holstein dairy calves were randomly allocated to consume a diet supplemented with 10 g/d GOS (GOS, n = 12) or not (CON, n = 12). Thereafter, during phase 2, the GOS group was further divided into 2 groups: one that continued to consume GOS (GOSC, n = 6) and one that no longer consumed GOS (GOSS, n = 6), alongside the CON group. Galacto-oligosaccharides increased the average daily gain (ADG), body weight, feed efficiency, and serum high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol concentration of dairy calves during phase 1 (P < 0.05). Supplementation with GOS for the entire study reduced the incidence of diarrhea and increased the serum total protein and Ca concentrations (P < 0.05) compared with the CON group. The effect of GOS supplementation persisted after it was stopped because the ADG and final body weight of the GOSS group were higher than those of the CON group (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the GOSS group showed a persistently lower incidence of diarrhea and greater colonization of the rumen with probiotics, at the expense of less beneficial bacteria, which would promote ruminal fermentation and microbial protein synthesis. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the rational application of prebiotics and have important practical implications for the design of early life dietary interventions in dairy calf rearing.

The present study evaluated the impacts of fibre-degrading enzymes on the profiles of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) and oligosaccharides (OS) in the ileum of broiler chickens offered wheat- or maize-based diets under subclinical necrotic enteritis (NE) challenge. A 2 × 2 × 4 factorial arrangement of treatments was used. Factors were the following: NE challenge, no or yes; diet type, wheat- or maize-based; and supplemental enzymes, control (no enzyme), family 10 xylanase (XYN10), family 11 xylanase (XYN11) or β-mannanase (MAN). Birds in the challenged group were inoculated with Eimeria on d 9 and Clostridium perfringens on d 14 and 15. A 3-way interaction (P = 0.047) occurred on overall (d 0 to 16) weight gain. When NE was present, all the supplemental enzymes increased weight gain in birds fed the wheat-based diet; whereas in those fed the maize-based diet supplemental XYN10 and XYN11 decreased weight gain. When NE was absent, birds fed the wheat-based diet supplemented with XYN10 or MAN presented increased weight gain compared to non-supplemented birds, but no improvements with enzyme addition were observed in birds fed the maize-based diet. A 3-way interaction (P = 0.002) was observed on insoluble NSP level in the ileum. When NE was absent, all the supplemental enzymes reduced the ileal level of insoluble NSP, regardless of diet type. In the challenged birds, supplementing XYN10 and MAN reduced insoluble NSP level in the ileum, but only in birds fed the wheat-based diet. Ileal soluble NSP level was reduced by supplemental XYN11 and MAN, but only in birds fed the wheat-based diet, resulting in a 2-way diet type × enzyme interaction (P < 0.001). Ileal OS arabinose (P = 0.030) level was highest in birds offered the wheat-based diet supplemented with XYN11. Collectively, supplementation of NSP-degrading enzymes to the wheat-based diet enhanced bird performance regardless of NE challenge, with XYN11 significantly increasing oligosaccharide release. However, enzyme addition did not improve growth performance in birds fed maize-based diet, with supplemental XYN10 and XYN11 impeding weight gain when NE was present.

The offspring of super-multiparous sows face problems such as decreased growth performance, poor meat quality and even diseases in animal husbandry. Gama-aminobutyric acid (GABA) has long been known to promote growth and suppress inflammation, but little is known about the mechanisms. A total of 72 growing-finishing pigs from the 8th generation were randomly allotted to 2 groups with 6 replicates per treatment to receive a corn–soybean basal diet or the basal diet supplemented 20 mg/kg GABA for 60 d. After the animal-trial period, samples of serum and liver were collected for further analysis. Additionally, a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory model using HepG2 cells was established to explore the role of GABA on regulating hepatic inflammation. The results indicated that inflammatory cell infiltration occurs in the liver of progeny of super-multiparous sows, and dietary supplementation with GABA influenced liver morphology, increased activities of antioxidant enzymes and decreased the expression abundance of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) and interleukin (IL)-1β, in the liver of growing-finishing pigs (P < 0.05). In addition, GABA supplementation increased mRNA expressions of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and GABA receptors (GABARs), and reduced the expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling (P < 0.05). Additionally, an in vitro experiment demonstrated that GABA decreased the expressions of hepatic TLR4/NF-κB signaling via activating GABARs under LPS-stress (P < 0.05). In summary, liver injury may affect the growth performance of growing-finishing pigs by changing hepatic mitochondrial metabolism, the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and TLR4/NF-κB pathway and that GABA supplementation has a restorative effect by acting on GABARs.

Improving silage production by adding exogenous microorganisms not only maximizes nutrient preservation, but also extends product shelf life. Herein, changes in the quality and quantity of Lactobacillus plantarum PS-8 (PS-8) -inoculated alfalfa (Medicago sativa) during silage fermentation were monitored at d 0, 7, 14, and 28 (inoculum dose of PS-8 was 1 × 105 colony forming units [cfu]/g fresh weight; 50 kg per bag; 10 bags for each time point) by reconstructing metagenomic-assembled genomes (MAG) and Growth Rate InDex (GRiD). Our results showed that the exogenous starter bacterium, PS-8 inoculation, became the most dominating strain by d 7, and possibly played a highly active role throughout the fermentation process. The pH value of the silage decreased greatly, accompanied by the growth of acid-producing microorganisms namely PS-8, which inhibited the growth of harmful microorganisms like molds (4.18 vs. 1.42 log cfu/g) and coliforms (4.95 vs. 0.66 log most probable number [MPN]/g). The content of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) decreased significantly (41.6% vs. 37.6%; dry matter basis). In addition, the abundance and diversity of genes coding microbial carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) increased significantly and desirably throughout the fermentation, particularly the genes responsible for degrading starch, arabino-xylan, and cellulose. Overall, our results showed that PS-8 was replicating rapidly and consistently during early- and mid-fermentation phases, promoting the growth of beneficial lactic acid bacteria and inhibiting undesirable microbes, ultimately improving the quality of silage.