The impact of different levels of wheat diets on hepatic oxidative stress, immune response, and lipid metabolism in Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries)

Boyan Ma; Sayed Haidar Abbas Raza; Sameer D Pant; Zhanhong Gao; Fengshuo Zhang; Zhiyou Wang; Shengzhen Hou; Mariam Abdulaziz Alkhateeb; Waleed Al Abdulmonem; Yousef Mesfer Alharbi; Abdullah S M Aljohani; Linsheng Gui

doi:10.1186/s12917-023-03874-z

The impact of different levels of wheat diets on hepatic oxidative stress, immune response, and lipid metabolism in Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries)

BMC Vet Res. 2024 Jan 18;20(1):26. doi: 10.1186/s12917-023-03874-z.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, Qinghai Province, 810016, People's Republic of China.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety/Nation-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Machining and Safety of Livestock and Poultry Products, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China.
³ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Utilization and Conservation of Food and Medicinal Resources in Northern Region, Shaoguan University, Shaoguan, 512005, China.
⁴ College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Gulbali Institute, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2678, Australia.
⁶ Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Qassim University, P.O. Box 6655, 51452, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, Qinghai Province, 810016, People's Republic of China. guilinsheng1234@163.com.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Compared with corn, wheat contains higher crude protein, amino acids concentration. However, wheat contains a mass of anti-nutritional factors, resulting in increased of the digesta viscosity and impaired the intestinal function in ruminant.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of substitution of different amounts of wheat for corn on hepatic metabolism in the Tibetan lamb.

Methods: Ninety Tibetan lambs (Body weight = 12.37 ± 0.92 kg) were randomly assigned to three groups: 0% wheat diet (Control), 10% wheat diet (Low group), and 15% wheat diet (High group). The feeding trial lasted for 130 d, including a 10 d adaption period. Hepatic gene expression profiling was performed via RNA sequencing after the conclusion of the feeding trials.

Results: Results showed that greater level of glutathione peroxidase levels in L group compared with those of the C and H groups (P < 0.05). The immune indexes, including interleukin-1β (IL-1β), immunoglobulin A (IgA), and IgM were also elevated in L group compared with the other groups (P < 0.05). Compared with H group, the hepatocytes were arranged radially, and hepatic plates anastomosed with each other to form a labyrinth-like structure in L group. Transcriptomic analysis showed 872 differentially expressed genes (DEG) between H and L group, of which 755 were down-regulated and 117 were up-regulated. Through Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis, 32 pathways were significantly enriched (Q-value < 0.05), such as the cAMP signaling pathway, Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation, leukocyte transendothelial migration, platelet activation and adipocytokine signaling pathway. Additionally, the expression of comment DEGs were verified via quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction.

Conclusion: In summary, our findings suggest that wheat can be supplemented up to 10% in Tibetan sheep, contributing to improve the hepatic oxidative stress, immune response and lipid metabolism through regulating the expression of related genes.

Keywords: GSEA; RNA-Seq; Tibetan lamb; Wheat diet.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial, Veterinary

MeSH terms

Animals
Diet / veterinary
Immunity
Lipid Metabolism
Oxidative Stress
Sheep
Sheep, Domestic*
Tibet
Triticum*