Animal Nutrition最新文献

{"title":"Diets fermented by crab-derived lactic acid bacteria enhance growth, modulate the gut microbiota, and improve hepato-intestinal health in Eriocheir sinensis","authors":"Jie Xu, Yuheng Wu, Jiasang Wu, Anran Wang, Xin Zhang, Xiumei Xing, Longlong Fu, Xuedi Du, Shuyan Miao","doi":"10.1016/j.aninu.2026.01.021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aninu.2026.01.021","url":null,"abstract":"Proper fermentation of aquafeed using functional probiotics can enhance crustacean health and feed utilization. In this study, two crab-derived lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains, <ce:italic>Lactiplantibacillus plantarum</ce:italic> MW 2406C and <ce:italic>Lactobacillus brevis</ce:italic> Myh YC-01, were used for feed fermentation. Furthermore, their effects on the growth performance, intestinal microbiota, and hepato-intestinal health of <ce:italic>Eriocheir sinensis</ce:italic> were evaluated. A total of 300 crabs (initial body weight: 75.53 ± 0.10 g) were randomly assigned to five dietary groups, with six replicates of 10 crabs each: non-fermented diet (NFD); sterile fermented diet (SFD), a basal diet fermented without bacterial inoculation and only added with sterilized broth and water; <ce:italic>L. plantarum</ce:italic>-fermented diet (PFD), a basal diet augmented with <ce:italic>L. plantarum</ce:italic> at 1 × 10<ce:sup loc=\"post\">6</ce:sup> CFU/g; <ce:italic>L. brevis</ce:italic>-fermented diet (BFD), a basal diet augmented with <ce:italic>L. brevis</ce:italic> at 1 × 10<ce:sup loc=\"post\">6</ce:sup> CFU/g; and mixture of fermented diet (MFD), fermented with <ce:italic>L. plantarum</ce:italic> and <ce:italic>L. brevis</ce:italic> in a 1:1 ratio, with a total bacterial concentration of 1 × 10<ce:sup loc=\"post\">6</ce:sup> CFU/g. After feeding for 12 weeks, both the PFD and MFD groups had significantly higher digestive and antioxidant enzyme activities (<ce:italic>P <</ce:italic> 0.05). Moreover, the PFD and MFD groups showed upregulated expression of immune-related genes (<ce:italic>hsp70</ce:italic>, crustin, <ce:italic>alf1</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>propo</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>toll1</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>toll2</ce:italic>, and <ce:italic>pelle</ce:italic>) and intestinal barrier-related genes (<ce:italic>pt</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>zo-1</ce:italic>, and <ce:italic>pm</ce:italic>) (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> < 0.05). Similarly, the absolute real-time quantitative PCR quantification and 16S rRNA sequencing analysis showed that fermented diets reshaped the gut microbiota by enriching beneficial taxa, suppressing potential pathogens, and increasing the detectable abundance of the supplemented LAB strains in the intestinal contents. This study also established a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced model of crab enteritis to investigate the mechanisms by which the strains alleviate intestinal inflammation. The results revealed that fermented diets attenuated LPS-induced inflammatory responses by reducing the expression of inflammation-related genes (<ce:italic>ilf2</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>litaf</ce:italic>, and <ce:italic>p38mapk</ce:italic>) and restoring the expression of genes associated with the gut barrier (<ce:italic>pt</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>zo-1</ce:italic>, and <ce:italic>pm</ce:italic>), potentially by modulating the NF-κB and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. In conclusion, functional compound diets fermented with crab-derived LAB s","PeriodicalId":8184,"journal":{"name":"Animal Nutrition","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148692540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of dietary 5-hydroxytryptophan on growth characteristic, hepatopancreas health, antioxidant defenses, immune status, and reproductive potential of Macrobrachium rosenbergii broodstock","authors":"Li Wang, Chenying Yang, Fei Huang, Cui Liu, Jia Xu, Luxi Chen, Yubo Wu, Jingan Wang, Yuanmin Liu, Zhimin Gu","doi":"10.1016/j.aninu.2026.04.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aninu.2026.04.003","url":null,"abstract":"In view of the paucity of studies on 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) in <ce:italic>Macrobrachium rosenbergii</ce:italic>, this experiment investigated the effects of dietary 5-HTP on the growth, immune function, oxidative status, hormone levels and tryptophan metabolism via the combination of metabolome, microbiota and transcriptome analysis in <ce:italic>M. rosenbergii</ce:italic> broodstock. A total of 200 Female <ce:italic>M. rosenbergii</ce:italic> (3 months old; initial body weight 17.8 ± 1.6 g) were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments: a reference diet (REF), a control diet (CON), and the CON diet supplemented with 5-HTP at 50 mg/kg (HTP5), 150 mg/kg (HTP15), or 250 mg/kg (HTP25). Each treatment had four replicates, with each replicate containing 10 <ce:italic>M</ce:italic>. <ce:italic>rosenbergii</ce:italic>, and the feeding trial lasted for 8 weeks. The results showed the weight gain of prawns fed HTP15 was greater than CON (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> = 0.022). Histological examination revealed that reserve cells (RC) and secretory cells (BC) in prawns fed HTP15 and HTP25 exhibited predominantly normal morphology, with minimal signs of rupture or vacuolation. Compared to CON, the density of yolk granules increased in prawn fed HTP15; the 5-HTP treatments significantly decreased the malondialdehyde (MDA) content and acid phosphatase (ACP) activity in hemolymph, reactive oxygen species (ROS)-positive rate in hepatopancreas; the HTP5 and HTP15 treatments significantly increased the levels of estradiol (E2), vitellogenin (Vg), and progesterone (Prog) (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05). The cluster analysis of bacterial genera revealed that most samples in CON and HTP15 groups clustered separately. In the transcriptome analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) revealed C and HTP15 groups exhibited similar distribution patterns. Furthermore, compared to CON group, the HTP15 group significantly increased the levels of tryptamine, xanthurenic acid, tryptophol, and 3-indoleacetic acid (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05). Integrated multi-omics analyses revealed dietary HTP15 primarily influences carbon metabolism, PI3K-Akt signaling, cell-extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction, focal adhesion, and Insulin resistance pathways. Overall, 150 mg/kg of 5-HTP supplementation exerts multiple beneficial effects on <ce:italic>M. rosenbergii</ce:italic>, including improvements in growth performance, hepatopancreas health, antioxidant capacity, immune function, and reproductive potential.","PeriodicalId":8184,"journal":{"name":"Animal Nutrition","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148538305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Leucine regulates the mTOR pathway to improve growth and enhance immune responses in Scylla paramamosain challenged with Vibrio parahaemolyticus","authors":"Xishuai Cui, Min Jin, Hongyu Peng, Tiantian Xu, Xiaoyue Li, Shichao Xie, Wenhao Zhan, Yao Deng, Yinqiu Tian, Zheng Tang, Tingting Zhu, Peng Sun, Qicun Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.aninu.2026.03.005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aninu.2026.03.005","url":null,"abstract":"A 63-d feeding trial was performed to determine the effects of varying dietary leucine levels on the growth, protein metabolism, and disease resistance of <ce:italic>Scylla paramamosain</ce:italic> against <ce:italic>Vibrio parahaemolyticus</ce:italic>. A total of 360 juvenile crabs (approximately 50 d after metamorphosis from the megalopa stage and having undergone eight molts; initial weight: 8.65 ± 0.58 g) were randomly assigned to six dietary treatments, with 60 crabs per group, each treatment comprising three replicates of 20 crabs each. Each group was fed one of the six isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets, which were formulated to provide graded leucine levels of 1.81% (control), 2.10%, 2.40%, 2.67%, 2.91%, and 3.18%, respectively. The results showed that crabs fed 2.67% leucine exhibited significantly higher percent weight gain, molting frequency, and protein efficiency ratio, together with a lower feed conversion ratio, than those fed 1.81%, 2.10%, or 3.18% leucine (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05). Muscle and hepatopancreas protein contents were significantly higher in the 2.67% and 2.91% groups than in the 1.81% group (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05). Dietary leucine also altered the muscle amino acid profile and enhanced hepatopancreatic digestive enzyme activities (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05). At 2.67%–2.91%, leucine significantly upregulated selected mTOR-related genes and increased TOR and p70S6K1 protein levels (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05). Following <ce:italic>V</ce:italic>. <ce:italic>parahaemolyticus</ce:italic> challenge, the 2.91% group showed the highest survival and lower hemocyte apoptosis (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05). The overall survival difference showed a tendency (log-rank <ce:italic>P</ce:italic> = 0.056), whereas Cox regression indicated a reduced mortality risk versus the 1.81% group (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> = 0.024). Compared with the control, leucine supplementation significantly enhanced antioxidant capacity and innate immune enzyme activities, accompanied by increased expression of antioxidant, immune, amino acid transporter, mTOR signaling, and inflammatory-response genes (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05). Based on PWG against dietary leucine levels, the optimal dietary leucine requirement was determined to be 2.70% for mud crab under the present crab-apartment recirculating aquaculture system rearing conditions, whereas dietary 2.91% leucine was associated with a significantly reduced mortality risk during the 48-h <ce:italic>V. parahaemolyticus</ce:italic> challenge period (Cox model).","PeriodicalId":8184,"journal":{"name":"Animal Nutrition","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148538307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multi-omic analysis reveals that the CARNS1-mediated carnosine synthesis pathway modulates muscle metabolic responses to nutrient restriction in goats","authors":"Tianxi Zhang, Rong Wang, Rongzhen Zhong, Shaoxun Tang, Min Wang, Zhiyuan Ma, Xuefeng Han, Zhiliang Tan","doi":"10.1016/j.aninu.2026.02.010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aninu.2026.02.010","url":null,"abstract":"Seasonal feed shortages pose critical challenges to ruminant productivity, yet the mechanisms underlying muscle metabolic responses to varying degrees of restriction remain unclear. This study simulated feed shortage in goats using three dietary treatments: normal feeding (RF0), 25% restricted feeding (RF25), and 50% restricted feeding (RF50). A total of 30 male Xiangdong black goats with similar initial body weight (19.14 ± 2.75 kg) and age (4.0 ± 0.3 months) were randomly assigned into 3 groups (&lt;ce:italic&gt;n&lt;/ce:italic&gt; = 10 per group) for an 87-d trial (7-d preliminary period followed by an 80-d experimental period). By integrating growth performance, muscle morphology, fatty acid and free amino acid profiles, and transcriptomic and metabolomic data, the multilevel responses of goat muscle to feed shortage were characterized. As anticipated, restricted feeding markedly impaired growth performance; in particular, the average daily gain in the RF50 group decreased markedly compared with the RF0 group (&lt;ce:italic&gt;P&lt;/ce:italic&gt; &lt; 0.05). Morphological analysis revealed that RF50 significantly reduced the cross-sectional area of longissimus lumborum muscle fiber (&lt;ce:italic&gt;P&lt;/ce:italic&gt; = 0.017) without affecting fiber diameter or density (&lt;ce:italic&gt;P&lt;/ce:italic&gt; &gt; 0.05) compared with the RF0 group, suggesting that structural preservation of fiber number was prioritized over individual fiber volume under severe nutritional stress. Metabolically, RF50 induced accumulation of free amino acids (aspartate, glycine, valine, and lysine) and monounsaturated fatty acids (cis9-C16:1, n-7 and cis9-C18:1, n-9), and depletion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (cis9,cis12-C18:2, n-6 and cis9,cis12,cis15-C18:3, n-3) compared with the RF0 group (&lt;ce:italic&gt;P&lt;/ce:italic&gt; &lt; 0.05). Transcriptomic analysis revealed suppression of protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, beta-alanine metabolism, PPAR signaling pathway, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, fatty acid metabolism, and fatty acid degradation pathways under RF50 (&lt;ce:italic&gt;P&lt;/ce:italic&gt;-adjust &lt; 0.05); concordant downregulation of the beta-alanine metabolism and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis pathways was also observed in the metabolome. Trend clustering identified a nonlinear metabolic threshold, with RF25 inducing gradual adaptations while RF50 triggered abrupt metabolic reprogramming. Integrated multiomics analysis identified the beta-alanine metabolism pathway as a pivotal hub, marked by coordinated downregulation of &lt;ce:italic&gt;CARNS1&lt;/ce:italic&gt; and significantly reduced levels of carnosine and L-histidine in the RF50 group (&lt;ce:italic&gt;P&lt;/ce:italic&gt;-adjust &lt; 0.05). These findings suggest that severely restricted feeding disrupts muscle homeostasis via the &lt;ce:italic&gt;CARNS1&lt;/ce:italic&gt;-mediated carnosine synthesis pathway, impairing fatty acid metabolism and protein turnover. The adverse effects of RF50 on muscle characteristics were more pronounced than those of RF25, indicating that mainta","PeriodicalId":8184,"journal":{"name":"Animal Nutrition","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148402775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dysregulated bile acid metabolism impairs intestinal barrier integrity via defective GPBAR1 signaling in low-birth-weight suckling piglet","authors":"Chang Yin, Ye Xu, Wei Fang, Qingshi Meng, Weidong Zhang, Xuan Liu, Shanlong Tang, Xiaobin Wen, Xiaohui Feng, Ruqing Zhong, Liang Chen, Hongfu Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.aninu.2026.01.020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aninu.2026.01.020","url":null,"abstract":"Low birth weight (LBW) is closely associated with postnatal inflammation and disruption of intestinal barrier function. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these associations remain incompletely understood. This study aimed to investigate whether bile acid (BA) metabolism influences intestinal epithelial homeostasis. Using eight pairs of LBW and normal-birth-weight (NBW) piglets selected from twelve litters (Duroc × Landrace × Large White crossbreed), with LBW piglets weighing 0.85 ± 0.05 kg at birth (d 1) and NBW piglets weighing 1.49 ± 0.08 kg, all piglets were raised under normal maternal nursing until postnatal d 7 (at which LBW and NBW weighed 1.38 ± 0.30 kg and 2.70 ± 0.25 kg, respectively) and then sampled for further investigation (<ce:italic>n</ce:italic> = 8 per group). It was demonstrated that disrupted bile acid metabolism impairs epithelial homeostasis via the gut-liver axis. At both the mRNA and protein levels, compared with NBW piglets, LBW piglets exhibited significant upregulation of hepatic Cyp7a1, accompanied by marked suppression of GPBAR1 in liver and ileum (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05). Serum primary bile acids (PBAs; <ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.01) and interferons (IFN-α and IFN-γ; <ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05) were significantly elevated compared with NBW piglets. A downward trend in ileal SBA (approximately 0.31-fold compared with NBW piglets) was observed, coinciding with shortened villi, shallow crypts, sparse microvilli, and reduced tight junction proteins occludin, ZO-1, and claudin-4 (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05). Ileal transcriptomics and protein data further indicated IFN-linked signaling and MLCK mediated cytoskeletal stress. In vitro, pharmacological inhibition of GPBAR1 sensitized the intestinal barrier to pro-inflammatory cytokine injury, particularly IFN-γ, through enhancing the MLCK expression (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.001) and downregulating the tight junction proteins, including occludin (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> = 0.008), ZO-1 (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> = 0.024), claudin-1 (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.001), and claudin-4 (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.001). Overall, these findings demonstrate that BA dysregulation and IFN signaling converge on GPBAR1-MLCK pathways to compromise epithelial integrity in LBW piglets, highlighting GPBAR1 as a potential target for maintaining intestinal homeostasis.","PeriodicalId":8184,"journal":{"name":"Animal Nutrition","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148402773","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dietary folic acid coordinates growth and lipid metabolism through gut microbial and one-carbon networks in juvenile mud crab (Scylla paramamosain)","authors":"Zheng Tang, Yao Deng, Shichao Xie, Wenhao Zhan, Hongyu Peng, Yinqiu Tian, Min Jin, Tiantian Xu, Xishuai Cui, Xiaoyue Li, Peng Sun, Qicun Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.aninu.2026.01.019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aninu.2026.01.019","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigated the effects of dietary folic acid (FA) on growth performance, lipid metabolism, one-carbon metabolism, and gut microbiota of juvenile mud crab (<ce:italic>Scylla paramamosain</ce:italic>). Six isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets were formulated: one antibiotic basal diet control with 1% succinylsulfathiazole (SST), one basal diet control, and four diets with graded FA levels (1.37, 2.43, 4.26, and 9.84 mg/kg). A total of 180 juvenile crabs (initial body weight: 15.21 ± 0.10 g) were individually reared for 8 weeks. Compared with the 0.00 mg/kg FA and 0.00 + 1% SST treatments, dietary supplementation with 4.26 mg/kg FA improved final weight (FW), percent weight gain (PWG), specific growth rate (SGR), survival, and feed efficiency (FE) (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05). The 4.26 mg/kg FA also enhanced eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) contents in hepatopancreas and muscle, whereas the 0.00 + 1% SST treatment significantly reduced total EPA + DHA contents (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05). Moreover, crabs fed 4.26 mg/kg FA exhibited decreased hemolymph aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities, significantly reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations in hemolymph and hepatopancreas, and significantly increased total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity in the hepatopancreas (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05). Additionally, 4.26 mg/kg FA elevated S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) and S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) concentrations and upregulated the expression of <ce:italic>pcft</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>dhfr</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>shmt</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>mthfr</ce:italic>, and <ce:italic>mtr</ce:italic> in the hepatopancreas (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05). The 16S rRNA gene sequencing further revealed that 4.26 mg/kg FA increased (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05) the relative abundance of gram-negative and aerobic bacteria, while reducing oxidative stress-tolerant, anaerobic, and potentially pathogenic bacteria in the intestine. These findings indicate that juvenile mud crab have a limited capacity for FA synthesis and require dietary supplementation. A dietary folic acid level of 4.26 mg/kg supported optimal growth and physiological functions, while two-slope broken-line regression of PWG against dietary FA levels estimated an optimal dietary requirement of 3.86 mg/kg for juvenile mud crab.","PeriodicalId":8184,"journal":{"name":"Animal Nutrition","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148402774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dietary guanidinoacetic acid supplementation favourably modulates energy dynamics and nitrogen balance in broilers","authors":"Nishchal K. Sharma, Sosthene Musigwa, Vivienne Inhuber, Alip Kumar, Stuart J. Wilkinson, David J. Cadogan, Shu-Biao Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.aninu.2026.05.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aninu.2026.05.001","url":null,"abstract":"The arginine-sparing potential of guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) has been well documented; however, information regarding its effects on energy dynamics and nitrogen balance in broilers is limited. This study evaluated the effects of dietary GAA supplementation on heat increment, net energy, efficiency of energy utilization, and nitrogen and energy balance in broilers using closed-circuit calorimetry chambers. One-d-old Ross 308 male broilers (39 ± 1 g, <ce:italic>n</ce:italic> = 80) were fed common starter and grower diets until 18 d of age. From d 19, birds continued to receive the grower diet supplemented with 0, 0.03%, 0.06%, or 0.09% GAA. Following an acclimation period in chambers (d 22–25), indirect calorimetry measurements were conducted from d 25 to 28. Each dietary treatment consisted of eight replicate chambers with 2 birds per chamber divided across two consecutive experimental runs. In each run, there were four replicate chambers per treatment. The efficacy of GAA on growth performance was evidenced by a linear improvement in feed conversion ratio (FCR; <ce:italic>P =</ce:italic> 0.022), along with a tendency for quadratic responses in body weight gain (WG; <ce:italic>P =</ce:italic> 0.057) and feed intake (<ce:italic>P =</ce:italic> 0.080) as GAA levels increased. Dietary GAA did not affect (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &gt; 0.05) apparent metabolizable energy (AME) or nitrogen-corrected AME (AMEn) of the feed. However, dietary net energy (NE) tended to increase linearly (<ce:italic>P =</ce:italic> 0.063) with increasing GAA inclusion. The efficiency of AME utilization for NE, expressed as NE/AME and NE/AMEn, was affected by GAA supplementation, with a linear increase in NE/AMEn (<ce:italic>P =</ce:italic> 0.017) and a tendency for a linear increase in NE/AME (<ce:italic>P =</ce:italic> 0.062). Dietary GAA linearly decreased (<ce:italic>P =</ce:italic> 0.031) AME intake per unit of body WG while it had no impact (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &gt; 0.05) on NE intake. Increasing dietary GAA levels increased nitrogen (N) retention in a quadratic manner (<ce:italic>P =</ce:italic> 0.017) and linearly improved N utilization efficiency (<ce:italic>P =</ce:italic> 0.002). Heat production decreased linearly (<ce:italic>P =</ce:italic> 0.015) with increasing GAA concentration. The RE as protein increased quadratically (<ce:italic>P =</ce:italic> 0.022) and RE as fat tended to decrease linearly (<ce:italic>P =</ce:italic> 0.090) with increasing GAA levels. In conclusion, dietary GAA reduced heat production and the efficiency of AME utilization for NE, and favourably modulated body energy partitioning by enhancing energy retention as protein, thereby improving feed efficiency in broilers.","PeriodicalId":8184,"journal":{"name":"Animal Nutrition","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148402772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dietary L-carnosine enhances the growth, muscle hardness and protein deposition in red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii)","authors":"Xinyuan Li, Yangyang Liu, Shouqi Xie, Jianmin Zhang, Weihua Gao, Ming Jiang, Lixue Dong, Di Peng, Ke Cheng, Feng Huang, Juan Tian","doi":"10.1016/j.aninu.2026.01.018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aninu.2026.01.018","url":null,"abstract":"This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary L-carnosine on growth performance and muscle quality in red swamp crayfish (<ce:italic>Procambarus clarkii</ce:italic>). A total of 324 red swamp crayfish, with an initial body weight of 6.19 ± 0.03 g, were randomly divided into 6 groups of three replicates and 54 crayfish per group (18 crayfish per replicate). Six experimental diets containing graded levels of L-carnosine (3.35, 59.28, 106.84, 222.20, 452.93, and 821.16 mg/kg) were fed for 8 weeks. Regression analysis revealed dose-dependent responses in multiple parameters. Weight gain rate, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio, protein deposition rate, muscle percentage, whole-body and muscle crude protein content, muscle textural properties (hardness and chewiness), hydroxyproline levels (alkaline-insoluble and total), myofiber density, small myofiber proportion (&lt;50 μm), and total amino acid content exhibited quadratic trends (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05), with peak values observed in the 452.93 mg/kg group. Conversely, feed conversion ratio and large myofiber proportion (&gt;70 μm) showed significant quadratic decreases (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05), reaching their lowest values at 452.93 mg/kg. Transcriptional analysis demonstrated that, compared with the 3.35 mg/kg L-carnosine group, the 452.93 mg/kg L-carnosine group significantly regulated genes involved in several key pathways: mTORC1 signaling (<ce:italic>igf-1</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>pi3k</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>akt</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>tor</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>s6k1</ce:italic>, and <ce:italic>4ebp1</ce:italic>), eIF2B-eIF2 signaling (<ce:italic>eif2a</ce:italic>), ubiquitin-proteasome system (<ce:italic>ub</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>psma2</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>psmc1</ce:italic>, and <ce:italic>murf1</ce:italic>), autophagy-lysosomal system (<ce:italic>atg16l1</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>atg5</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>beclin1</ce:italic>, and <ce:italic>atg12</ce:italic>), TGFβ /Smads pathway (<ce:italic>TGF-β1</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>smad6</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>smad3</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>smad4</ce:italic>, and <ce:italic>colla1</ce:italic>), and myogenic regulators (<ce:italic>mef2a</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>mef2b</ce:italic>, and <ce:italic>mstn</ce:italic>) (<ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.05). These molecular modulations were consistent with observed phenotypic improvements. Overall, the findings demonstrated that a dietary L-carnosine level of 458.06–500.00 mg/kg, as determined by quadratic regression analysis, significantly enhances growth performance, feed utilization, muscle hardness and chewiness, and nutritive value in red swamp crayfish.","PeriodicalId":8184,"journal":{"name":"Animal Nutrition","volume":"77 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148402776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of chitin derived from black soldier fly larvae on the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, hepatopancreas morphology, intestine microbiota, immune capacity, and lipid metabolism of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)","authors":"Xiaomin Li, Yongkang Chen, Xuanqi Chen, Haiqi Pu, Wenrui Zhang, Tao Ye, Xingyu Gu, Zhihong Liao, Wei Zhao, Jin Niu","doi":"10.1016/j.aninu.2025.10.017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aninu.2025.10.017","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8184,"journal":{"name":"Animal Nutrition","volume":"168 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148384919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Strengths and weaknesses in techniques employed to measure the effects of dietary modulation on intestinal microbiota composition and function","authors":"Juha Apajalahti, Teemu Rinttilä","doi":"10.1016/j.aninu.2026.02.009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aninu.2026.02.009","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8184,"journal":{"name":"Animal Nutrition","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148383933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}