Effects of folic acid supplementation on growth performance and hepatic folate metabolism-related gene expressions in weaned piglets

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different folic acid supplemental levels on growth performance, serum biochemical indicators, and hepatic folate metabolism-related gene expressions in weaned piglets. There were 160 piglets with initially average bodyweight of 7.33 kg randomly assigned to diets containing five levels of folic acid: basal diets (C), 0.5 mg$kg -1 folic acid (FS 0.5), 2.5 mg$kg -1 folic acid (FS 2.5), 5.0 mg$kg -1 folic acid (FS 5.0), or 10.0 mg$kg -1 folic acid (FS 10.0). Blood samples were collected from a subset (n = 20; 4 pigs per treatment) of the piglets on day 0, 14, and 28. Liver samples were collected from the blood-taken piglets on day 28 of the experiment. Pigs fed basal diet supplemented with 2.5 mg$kg -1 folic acid grew faster (P < 0.05) and consumed more feed (P < 0.01) than groups of C, FS 5.0, and FS 10.0 during the last two weeks. Dietary treatment had no effect on F/G throughout the experiment. Pigs in the FS 2.5 group showed greater concentrations of Growth Hormone (GH) (P < 0.05) and Insulin-like Growth Factors (IGF-1) (P < 0.01) in serum than C and FS 10.0 on day 28. RT-PCR analysis revealed that FS 0.5, FS 2.5, and FS 5.0 had a greater abundance of the mRNA encoding 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase than C and FS 10.0 (P < 0.01). The mRNA expressions of folate binding protein in FS 0.5 and FS 2.5 were upregulated compared with pigs fed with basal diet (P < 0.05). These results demonstrated that folate supplemental level of 2.5 mg$kg -1 significantly enhanced the growth performance of piglets. Folic acid had an impact on folate metabolism and the homocysteine concentrations. No folate supplementation or folate supplemental level of 10 mg$kg -1 could not increase the growth performance to the greatest degree.

Effects of varying dietary folic acid during weaning stress of piglets

“…The effect size was calculated as 0.8 for the present experiment based on plasma folate status parameters ( Yu et al., 2010 ). Based on these assumptions, with α = 0.05, a power of 0.90, it has been calculated that total sample size was 28.…”

“…There are substantial studies on the effects of maternal supplementation of folic acid on reproductive performance and offspring ( Rerat, 1978 ; Matte et al., 1984 ; Lindemann and Kornegay, 1989 ; Joshi et al., 2004 ; Liu et al., 2011a ). Yu et al. (2010) showed that dietary supplementation with a high level of folic acid (2.5 mg/kg) improved the growth performance of weaned piglets that were fed a diet with 0.30% zinc oxide.…”

Maternal Methyl-Donor Micronutrient Supplementation During Pregnancy Promotes Skeletal Muscle Differentiation and Maturity in Newborn and Weaning Pigs

“…Maternal nutrition during pregnancy plays a role in regulating offspring growth, development, and metabolic health through altering the epigenetic state of the genome (1)(2)(3). Previous studies showed that maternal methyl donor micronutrients (MET), such as folic acid, methionine, choline, betaine, etc., are associated with the structure, physiology, and metabolism of the offspring (4)(5)(6)(7). MET participates in the synthesis of nucleotides, proteins, and lipids by integrating glucose, amino acid status, and vitamins and feeds into epigenetic mechanisms by methyl group donation or transfer (8).…”

Effect of increasing levels of fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins on improving performance and plasma vitamin concentration in modern hybrids pig’s growth and finishing phase

“…As to vitamin B 6 supplementation, Woodworth et al (2000) reported an increase in ADWG of piglets fed diets with 3.3 mg/kg. In contrast, Yu et al (2010) observed increased ADWG and ADFI of piglets fed diets supplemented with 2.5 mg/kg folic acid. Wang et al (2021) also found a linear increase in ADWG and ADFI with folic acid supplementation of piglets in the postweaning phase.…”