High-grain diet feeding altered the composition and functions of the rumen bacterial community and caused the damage to the laminar tissues of goats

Abstract

In the current intensive production system, ruminants are often fed high-grain (HG) diets. However, this feeding pattern often causes rumen metabolic disorders and may further trigger laminitis, the exact mechanism is not clear. This study investigated the effect of HG diet feeding on fermentative and microbial changes in the rumen and on the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the lamellar tissue. In all, 12 male goats were fed a hay diet (0% grain; n=6) or an HG diet (56.5% grain; n=6). On day 50 of treatment, samples of blood, rumen content, and lamellar tissue of hooves of goats were collected. The data showed that compared with the hay group, HG-fed goats had lower (P<0.05) rumen pH but higher (P<0.05) total volatile fatty acids and lactate in the rumen and higher (P<0.05) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels in the rumen and blood. HG diet feeding altered the composition of rumen bacterial community, and correspondingly, the results suggested that their functions in the HG group were also altered. HG diet feeding increased (P<0.05) the expression of interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, tumour necrosis factor-α and MMP-2 mRNA in the lamellar tissues compared with the hay group. Correlation analysis indicated that the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines were positively correlated with MMP-2 expression in lamellar tissues. Overall, these results revealed that HG feeding altered the patterns of rumen fermentation and the composition and functions of rumen bacterial community, and lead to higher levels of LPS in the peripheral blood, and further activated the inflammatory response in lamellar tissues, which may progress to the level of laminar damage.

Specific enrichment of microbes and increased ruminal propionate production: the potential mechanism underlying the high energy efficiency of Holstein heifers fed steam-flaked corn

“…The alteration in the genus Succinivibrio (phylum Proteobacteria) was also observed in this study, and Succinivibrio appears to be a major fermenter of dextrins (Bryant 2015). The abundance of Succinivibrio is usually relatively higher when cattle or sheep are fed high-grain diets containing large amounts of starch or rapidly fermentable carbohydrates (Bryant and Small 1956;Wozny et al 1977;Kim et al 2014;Henderson et al 2015;Plaizier et al 2017;Zhang et al 2018b). Interestingly, an increased abundance of Succinivibrio species in the rumen was linked to the reduced methane emissions in cattle (Holman and Gzyl 2019).…”

Impact of Nutrients on the Hoof Health in Cattle

“…Laminitis may appear as a primary condition, but it is more often secondary to rumen acidosis [ 9 , 10 , 15 , 42 , 81 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 ], in which the risk of lameness increases [ 26 , 66 , 71 , 92 ]. Fructans and glucose have been shown to increase lactic acid production, thereby increasing the risk of laminitis [ 93 ].…”

“…When compared to roughage, the highly concentrated feed ratio increases the expressions of interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor α, and MMP-2 mRNA in lamellar tissues. The change in the composition and function of bacteria in the rumen that is caused by concentrated feed leads to higher levels of lipopolysaccharide in the peripheral blood and it can further activate the inflammatory response in the lamellar tissue and even cause laminar damage [ 26 , 81 , 86 , 87 ]. Lipopolysaccharide is a significant contributor to damage and local inflammation in the capillaries of the lamellae in the hoof [ 86 ], thereby disrupting the production of quality horn [ 26 ].…”

“…The study by Amory et al [ 101 ] reports ten farms on which heifers were fed maize silage as part of their feed ration had a higher locomotion score than those on which no maize was fed. A possible hypothesis for this association is that maize silage causes metabolic disturbances due to rapid rumen fermentation and subsequent acidosis [ 15 , 86 , 103 ]. These metabolic disorders reduce the quality of horn formation [ 73 ] and they may predispose a cow to lameness due to the lower resistance to hoof horn abrasion.…”

Effects of LPS on the accumulation of lipid droplets, proliferation, and steroidogenesis in goat luteinized granulosa cells

“…Due to the current intensive production system and efforts to acquire ruminants' full potential for production, ruminants are usually fed diets with a high proportion of grains in China. However, feeding high‐grain diet to goats led to high concentration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in rumen and peripheral blood, which could cause metabolic disorders . LPS, the cell wall component of gram negative bacteria, has also become a hotspot on the study in postnatal animals because of the high incidence of inflammation such as endometritis and mastitis related to ovarian dysfunction as reviewed …”