Serum Metabolome is Altered in Arginine-Supplemented Growing Pigs

摘要

Arginine plays an important role regulating nutrient metabolism, but the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. This study was conducted to determine the effect of dietary arginine supplementation on the metabolome in serum of growing pigs using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Sixteen pigs (48 ± 4 kg) were randomly assigned to one of 2 groups, representing supplementation with 0 or 1.0 % of L-arginine-HCl to corn- and soybean meal-based diets. Serum was collected after 46 d treatment. Dietary arginine supplementation decreased fat deposition and increased protein accretion in the body. Principal component analysis showed that serum concentrations of low-density lipoprotein, very-low-density lipoprotein, and urea were lower, but concentrations of creatinine, tricarboxylic-acid-cycle metabolites, alanine, ornithine, lysine and tyrosine were greater in arginine-supplemented than in control pigs. Additionally, the arginine treatment affected serum concentrations of lipid signalling molecules (glycerophosphorylcholine and myo-inositol) and intestinal bacterial metabolites (formate, ethanol, methylamine, dimethylamine, acetate, and propionate). These novel findings suggest that dietary arginine supplementation alters the catabolism of fat and amino acids in the whole body, enhances protein synthesis in skeletal muscle, and modulates intestinal microbial metabolism in growing pigs.