370 Dietary soluble fiber increases the intestinal butyrate-producing bacteria, reduces intestinal permeability, and improves metabolic syndrome in sows during perinatal period

Abstract In humans, metabolic and immune changes during the perinatal period also describe metabolic syndrome. Gut microbiota can cause symptoms of metabolic syndrome in pregnant women. Gut microbiota modulations caused by pregnancy nutrition constitute an interesting target in the metabolic status of pregnant individual. However, studies investigating the changes of the metabolic characteristics and gut microbiota in sows throughout pregnancy and lactation are lacking, and the effects of soluble fiber diet during pregnancy on them are still underexplored. Sows were allocated to either control or 2.0% pregelatinized waxy maize starch plus guar gum (SF) dietary treatment during gestation. The metabolic characteristics, gut permeability and inflammation status, and gut microbiota composition and metabolism of sows during pregnancy and lactation were analysed. The plasma levels of hs-CRP and HOMA-IR values were increased in days 109 of gestation (G109) and days 3 of lactation (L3), while dietary SF reduced plasma hs-CRP concentrations and the HOMA-IR values. The levels of plasma zonulin and fecal endotoxin and lipocalin-2 were increased in G109 and L3, while dietary SF reduced elevation of plasma zonulin and endotoxin and fecal lipocalin-2. Next-generation sequencing analysis revealed that dietary SF increased levels of butyrate-producing Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Oscillospira. The fecal and plasma levels of butyrate were also increased. Additionally, the increased relative abundances of Lachnospiraceae in SF sows negatively correlated with plasma hs-CRP and HOMA-IR while Oscillospira was negatively fecal lipocalin-2. Our data reveal that the sow exhibits a metabolic syndrome and dramatical changes in gut microbiota during perinatal period. Besides, dietary SF has beneficial effects on insulin sensitivity, intestinal permeability and inflammation maybe via increasing butyrate-producing bacteria and butyrate production.