Brain fatty acid and transcriptome profiles of pig fed diets with different levels of soybean oil

Abstract

Background The high similarity in anatomical and neurophysiological processes between pigs and humans make pigs an excellent model for metabolic diseases and neurological disorders. Lipids are essential for brain structure and function, and the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) have anti-inflammatory and positive effects against cognitive dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases. Nutrigenomics studies involving pigs and fatty acids (FA) may help us in better understanding important biological processes. In this study, the main goal was to evaluate the effect of different levels of dietary soybean oil on the lipid profile and transcriptome in pigs’ brain tissue. Results Thirty-six male Large White pigs were used in a 98-day study using two experimental diets corn-soybean meal diet containing 1.5% soybean oil (SOY1.5) and corn-soybean meal diet containing 3.0% soybean oil (SOY3.0). No differences were found for the brain total lipid content and FA profile between the different levels of soybean oil. For differential expression analysis, using the DESeq2 statistical package, a total of 34 differentially expressed genes (DEG, FDR-corrected p-value < 0.05) were identified. Of these 34 DEG, 25 are known-genes, of which 11 were up-regulated (log2 fold change ranging from + 0.25 to + 2.93) and 14 were down-regulated (log2 fold change ranging from − 3.43 to -0.36) for the SOY1.5 group compared to SOY3.0. For the functional enrichment analysis performed using MetaCore with the 34 DEG, four pathway maps were identified (p-value < 0.05), related to the ALOX15B (log2 fold change − 1.489), CALB1 (log2 fold change − 3.431) and CAST (log2 fold change + 0.421) genes. A “calcium transport” network (p-value = 2.303e-2), related to the CAST and CALB1 genes, was also identified. Conclusion The results found in this study contribute to understanding the pathways and networks associated with processes involved in intracellular calcium, lipid metabolism, and oxidative processes in the brain tissue. Moreover, these results may help a better comprehension of the modulating effects of soybean oil and its FA composition on processes and diseases affecting the brain tissue.

Identification of eQTLs using different sets of single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with carcass and body composition traits in pigs

“…These genes play important roles in the phenotypic expression of traits such as carcass, body composition, and meat quality. BCLAF1 is involved in the regulation of muscle growth in homologues [ 36 ]. E2F8 is involved in the regulation of cell cycle progression [ 37 ], and ELF1 is involved in the regulation of gene expression [ 38 , 39 ].…”

“…The RNA extraction from the tissue of skeletal muscle, brain, and liver samples, quality control of the RNA-seq data, counting, and normalization are described in Silva et al [ 36 ] and Fanalli et al [ 37 , 38 ]. The sequencing analyses were performed at the Genomics Center from the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil.…”

Identification of eQTL using different sets of single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with carcass and body composition traits in pigs

“…These genes play important roles in the phenotypic expression of traits such as carcass, body composition, and meat quality. BCLAF1 is involved in the regulation of muscle growth in homologues [43]. E2F8 is involved in the regulation of cell cycle progression [44], and ELF1 is involved in the regulation of gene expression [45,46].…”

“…The RNA extraction from the tissue of skeletal muscle, brain, and liver samples, quality control of the RNA-seq data, counting, and normalization are described by Silva et al [43] and Fanalli et al [44,45]. The sequencing analyses were performed at the Genomics Center from 'Luiz de Queiroz' College of Agriculture (ESALQ), Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil.…”