AUTHOR=Zhang Chengrui , Yu Qingyuan , Wang Jihong , Yu Yidong , Zhang Yonggen , Sun Yukun 

TITLE=Effects of Dietary Supplementation With Clostridium butyricum on Growth Performance, Apparent Digestibility, Blood Metabolites, Ruminal Fermentation and Bacterial Communities of Fattening Goats

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.888191

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2022.888191

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Clostridium butyricum</italic> (<italic>C. butyricum</italic>) is currently widely used to improve the body health and productive performance of monogastric animals. However, there have been few reports on the effects and specific mechanism of action of <italic>Clostridium butyricum</italic> in ruminants. This study aimed to investigate the effects of <italic>Clostridium butyricum</italic> supplementation on the growth performance and digestive microbiota of fattening goats. Twenty-four healthy male Albas goats (body weight = 22 ± 2.03 kg) were randomly divided into 3 treatment groups with eight goats in each group. The treatments were as follows: control group (CON) (basal diet, concentrate to forage ratio = 65:35); low-dose <italic>Clostridium butyricum</italic> (LCB) (basal diet plus 2.0 × 10<sup>8</sup> CFU/kg <italic>Clostridium butyricum</italic>); and high-dose <italic>Clostridium butyricum</italic> (HCB) (basal diet plus 1.0 × 10<sup>9</sup> CFU/kg <italic>Clostridium butyricum</italic>). The experiment lasted for 8 weeks after a 2-week adaptation period. Therefore, growth performance and rumen and rectum microbiota were evaluated in goats supplemented with <italic>Clostridium butyricum</italic> and its metabolites. The results showed that dietary supplementation with <italic>Clostridium butyricum</italic> significantly increased the pH (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05), but had no significant effect on growth performance (<italic>P</italic> &gt; 0.05). Compared with the control group, dietary <italic>Clostridium butyricum</italic> supplementation significantly increased the relative abundance of <italic>Prevotella_1, Christensenellaceae AE_R-7_Group</italic> and <italic>Prevotellaceae AE_UCG-003</italic> (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05), and significantly decreased <italic>Succiniclasticum</italic> and <italic>Muribaculaceae_unclassified</italic> (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05). The relative abundance of <italic>Clostridium</italic> in the rumen was &lt;1.0%. Moreover, 16S rDNA analysis showed that the fecal <italic>Clostridium</italic> or <italic>Clostridium butyricum</italic> count was significantly decreased (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05), and the relative abundance of <italic>Alistipes</italic> and <italic>Akkermansia</italic> was increased (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.10) in the low-dose group compared with the control group. Supplementing <italic>Clostridium butyricum</italic> in a high-concentrate diet did not significantly affect the performance of goats, while regulation of the gastrointestinal microbiota and related metabolites was associated with rumen fermentation.</p>