Prevotella copri increases fat accumulation in pigs fed with formula diets

Background Excessive fat accumulation of pigs is undesirable, as it severely affects economic returns in the modern pig industry. Studies in humans and mice have examined the role of the gut microbiome in host energy metabolism. Commercial Duroc pigs are often fed formula diets with high energy and protein contents. Whether and how the gut microbiome under this type of diet regulates swine fat accumulation is largely unknown. Results In the present study, we systematically investigated the correlation of gut microbiome with pig lean meat percentage (LMP) in 698 commercial Duroc pigs and found that Prevotella copri was significantly associated with fat accumulation of pigs. Fat pigs had significantly higher abundance of P. copri in the gut. High abundance of P. copri was correlated with increased concentrations of serum metabolites associated with obesity, e.g., lipopolysaccharides, branched chain amino acids, aromatic amino acids, and the metabolites of arachidonic acid. Host intestinal barrier permeability and chronic inflammation response were increased. A gavage experiment using germ-free mice confirmed that the P. copri isolated from experimental pigs was a causal species increasing host fat accumulation and altering serum metabolites. Colon, adipose tissue, and muscle transcriptomes in P. copri-gavaged mice indicated that P. copri colonization activated host chronic inflammatory responses through the TLR4 and mTOR signaling pathways and significantly upregulated the expression of the genes related to lipogenesis and fat accumulation, but attenuated the genes associated with lipolysis, lipid transport, and muscle growth. Conclusions Taken together, the results proposed that P. copri in the gut microbial communities of pigs fed with commercial formula diets activates host chronic inflammatory responses by the metabolites through the TLR4 and mTOR signaling pathways, and increases host fat deposition significantly. The results provide fundamental knowledge for reducing fat accumulation in pigs through regulating the gut microbial composition.

Prevotella Copri Increases Fat Accumulation in Pigs Fed by Formula Diets

Background: Excessive fat accumulation of pigs is undesirable, as it severely affects economic returns in the modern pig industry. Studies in humans and mice have examined the role of the gut microbiome in host energy metabolism. Commercial Duroc pigs are often fed formula diets with high energy and protein contents. Whether and how the gut microbiome under this type of diet regulates swine fat accumulation is largely unknown.Results: In the present study, we systematically investigated the correlation of gut microbiome with pig lean meat percentage (LMP) in 698 commercial Duroc pigs and found that P. copri was significantly associated with pig fat accumulation. Fat pigs had significantly higher abundance of P. copri in the gut. High abundance of P. copri was correlated with increased concentrations of serum metabolites related to chronic inflammation, e.g., lipopolysaccharides, branched chain amino acids, aromatic amino acids, and the metabolites of arachidonic acid. Host intestinal barrier permeability and chronic inflammation response were increased. A gavage experiment using germ-free mice confirmed that the P. copri isolated from experimental pigs was a causal species increasing host fat accumulation and altering serum metabolites. Colon, adipose tissue, and muscle transcriptomes in gavage mice indicated that P. copri colonization activated host chronic inflammatory responses through the TLR4 and mTOR signaling pathways and significantly upregulated the expression of the genes related to lipogenesis and fat accumulation, but attenuated the genes associated with lipolysis, lipid transport, and muscle growth.Conclusions: Taken together, the results identified and confirmed that P. copri in the gut microbial communities of pigs fed by commercial formula diets results in significantly increased host fat deposition. We propose a possible mechanism of P. copri affecting fat accumulation. The results provide fundamental knowledge for reducing pig fat accumulation through regulating the gut microbial composition.

Prevotella Copri Increases fat Accumulation in Pigs fed by Formula Diets

Background: Excessive fat accumulation of pigs is undesirable. It severely affects economic return of modern pig industry. Studies in humans and mice have examined the role of the gut microbiome in host energy metabolism. Commercial Duroc pigs are often fed formula diets with high energy and protein. Whether and how the gut microbiome under this type of diets regulates swine fat accumulation is largely unknown.Results: In the present study, we systematically investigated the correlation of gut microbiome with pig lean meat percentage (LMP) in a total of 698 commercial Duroc pigs. We demonstrate that the gut microbiome of fat pigs was dominated by P. copri which occupied 23.53% and 5.76% of relative abundance in average in the discovery and validation cohort, respectively. High abundance of P. copri in the gut resulted in a higher abundance of serum metabolites associated with chronic inflammation, e.g., branched chain amino acids, aromatic amino acids, the metabolites of arachidonic acid metabolism and lipopolysaccharides. Host intestinal barrier permeability and chronic inflammation response were increased. A gavage experiment using germ-free mice confirmed that the P. copri isolated from experimental pigs was a causal species increasing host fat accumulation. Host colon, adipose tissue, and muscle transcriptomes indicated that P. copri colonization significantly upregulated the expression of the genes related to immune and inflammatory responses, lipogenesis, and fat accumulation, but attenuated the genes associated with lipolysis, lipid transport, and muscle growth.Conclusions: Taken together, we identified and confirmed that P. copri in the gut microbial communities of pigs fed by commercial formula diets results in the significantly increased fat deposition of pigs, and proposed a possible mechanism of P. copri affecting fat accumulation. The results provided fundamental knowledges for reducing pig fat accumulation through regulating the gut microbial composition in pig industry.

Morbidity in Newborns Readmitted Into a Hospital After Discharge From a Maternity Unit During the First 28 Days of Their Lives – Results From the Rhine-Main Area, Germany

Background The neonatal period can be associated with a multitude of medical and social problems. Little is known about the reasons that lead to neonatal readmissions in a pediatric hospital and their individual outcomes. Objective To record the diagnosis of neonatal admissions in a pediatric hospital after discharge from a maternity unit. Predictive parameters are to be identified and a possible trend over the years is to be examined. Methods The medical history of newborns admitted to a pediatric hospital in the Rhine-Main area from 01/01/2004 to 31/12/2013 was retrospectively analyzed based on provided medical files. Results The data of 2851 newborns was recorded. 72% of the patients were delivered by vaginal birth. During the period under examination, there was a certain fluctuation although no significant trend in the number of admissions per year (p=0.062). The most frequent primary diagnoses were jaundice (27%), newborn infection (12.4%), and feeding problems (12.3%). Exclusively breastfed newborns had fewer feeding problems than newborns with a mixed or purely formula diets (p < 0.001). Conclusions The results of this study showed that the hospital readmissions of newborns throughout the years did not increase. Unfortunately, owing to the retrospective character of the study, it is not possible to make a clear statement as to whether hospitalization can be prevented with more intensive preventative measures. A prospective study on this matter is being planned.

Diet, weight gain, and head growth in hospitalized US very preterm infants: a 10-year observational study

ABSTRACT Background The benefits of human milk for hospitalized preterm infants are well documented, but the extent to which current human milk diets adequately support growth is uncertain. Objectives 1) To quantify differences in weight gain and head growth between very preterm infants fed human milk compared with infant formula; and 2) to describe trends in the magnitude of these differences over time Methods We studied infants from 777 US NICUs in the Vermont Oxford Network database. We included all surviving infants 23–29 weeks of gestation or 401–1500 g birth weight (maximum gestational age 32 wk) and excluded infants discharged >42 weeks of gestation or with congenital anomalies. In diet-growth analyses, we included infants born 2012–2016 (n = 138,703) to reflect current practice. In trend analyses, we included a 10-y cohort (n = 263,367). We categorized diet at NICU discharge/transfer as: 1) human milk only (no formula or fortifier); 2) human milk with formula or fortifier (mixed); or 3) infant formula only. Outcomes were weight and head circumference z-score change from birth to discharge relative to a fetal reference. Results Diet at discharge/transfer was human milk only for 18,274 (6.6%), mixed for 121,621 (44%), and formula only for 137,067 (49%). Weight deviated more from the fetal reference for infants fed both human milk diets compared with formula only (weight z-score change for infants fed human milk only, −0.88; mixed, −0.82; formula only −0.80; P < 0.0001 for diet overall). There were also differences by diet in head z-score change (human milk only, −0.52; mixed, −0.49; formula only, −0.45; P < 0.0001 for diet overall). The magnitude of these differences has diminished substantially over 10 y. Conclusions Very preterm infants receiving human milk compared with infant formula diets have a slower weight gain and head growth at hospital discharge.