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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1500961
This article is part of the Research Topic Insights into the Gut Microbiota in Companion Animals View all 10 articles
Effect of Compound Polysaccharide on Immunity, Antioxidant Capacity, Gut Microbiota and Serum Metabolome in Kittens
Provisionally accepted- 1 South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
- 2 Guangzhou Qingke Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Guangzhou, China
This study was conducted to investigate the effects of compound polysaccharides (CP), composed of Astragalus polysaccharide and Poria cocos polysaccharide, on immunity, antioxidant capacity, gut microbiota and serum metabolome in kittens. A total of 14 kittens of 4 months old, with an average body weight of 2.39 kg were used in a 56-d experiment. They were randomly allocated into the control (CON) group (n=7) and CP group (n=7). Blood samples and fresh feces were collected at the end of the experimental period. The results displayed that supplementation with CP increased the concentrations of serum immunoglobulin A , immunoglobulin G, interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor-α (P < 0.05) . However, there was no difference in the concentrations of serum amyloid A between the two groups (P > 0.05). Furthermore, the serum biochemical parameters of all the kittens were within the reference range. The relative abundance of beneficial bacteria (norank_f__Butyricicoccaceae and Bacteroides plebeius) was higher in the CP group (P < 0.05), while opportunistic pathogen (Anaerotruncus) was lower in the CP group (P < 0.05). In addition, serum metabolomic analysis demonstrated that the differential metabolites including arachidonic acid, dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid and glycine and the relevant metabolic pathway including glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, glycine, serine and threonine metabolism, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, which were implicated in regulating immune function in kitten after CP treatment. In conclusion, CP supplementation can enhance immune function in kittens, increase the relative abundance of beneficial gut microbiota and does not lead to generalized inflammation. Dietary supplementation with CP may generate nutritional benefits in kittens and this study offers insight for the development of functional pet food for kittens.
Keywords: Astragalus polysaccharide, Immunity, Kitten, Pet food, Poria cocos polysaccharide, microbiota, Metabolomics
Received: 24 Sep 2024; Accepted: 11 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xie, Jian, Zhang and Deng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Baichuan Deng, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
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