1. Spirulina supplementation improves lipid metabolism and autophagic activities in the liver and muscle of Hu lambs fed a high-energy diet.
- Author
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Liang, Yaxu, Huang, Xinai, Zhang, Zhen, Deng, Kaiping, An, Shiyu, Gao, Xiaoxiao, Wang, Zhibo, Liu, Zhinan, Wang, Feng, Liu, Dong, and Fan, Yixuan
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LIPID metabolism , *SPIRULINA , *ANIMAL nutrition , *LAMBS , *METABOLIC regulation , *LIVER , *FACTORIAL experiment designs - Abstract
The current study aimed to examine the effects of dietary spirulina supplementation in high-energy (HE) diets on fatty acid metabolism in sheep, and preliminarily explored the potential mechanisms underlying the associated autophagy-mediated regulation of lipid metabolism. In a 2 × 3 factorial design, including six treatment combinations of two metabolisable energy diets (10 and 11 MJ/kg DM), three spirulina supplementation levels (0, 1%, and 3%) were used. Serum alanineaminotransferase (ALT) (p = 0.003) and aspartatetransaminase (AST) (p = 0.002) activities increased, whereas total PUFA content (p < 0.001) decreased in the liver of lambs fed a HE diet. With the addition of spirulina, serum ALT (p = 0.037) and AST (p = 0.014) activities decreased, whereas EPA (p = 0.004), GLA (p = 0.019), n-6 PUFA (p = 0.005), and total PUFA contents (p = 0.019) increased. Moreover, the crude protein content in the Longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) increased (p = 0.013), the expression of PPARα and PPARγ was up-regulated, while ELOVL2 was down-regulated in liver and LTL (p < 0.05). Spirulina supplementation increased mRNA expression levels of autophagy-associated genes, including that of Beclin-1, AMPK, and ULK1 (p < 0.05). In conclusion, spirulina supplementation in a HE diet exerted a protective effect on the liver, increased PUFA content, and modulated expression levels of autophagy-related genes in growing lambs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
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