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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Physiol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Sciences
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1460414

Regulatory Effects of Tea Polysaccharides on Hepatic Inflammation, Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis, and Serum Metabolomic Signatures in beef Cattle Under Heat Stress

Provisionally accepted
Fan Li Fan Li 1Jun Xu Jun Xu 1*Min Xie Min Xie 2*Dan Fei Dan Fei 2*Yaomin Zhou Yaomin Zhou 2*Xiong Li Xiong Li 3*Guang Yelan Guang Yelan 2Lihui Gong Lihui Gong 2*Lizhen Hu Lizhen Hu 1*Fan Feng Fan Feng 1*
  • 1 Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang, China
  • 2 Institute of Quality Safety and Standards of Agricultural Products Research, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jiangxi, Jiangxi Province, China
  • 3 Pingxiang Center of Agricultural Science and Technology Research, Nan Chang, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Long-term heat stress (HS) severely restricts the growth performance of beef cattle and causes various health problems. The gut microbiota plays a crucial role in HS-associated inflammation and immune stress involving lymphocyte function. This study investigated the effects of dietary tea polysaccharide (TPS), a natural acidic glycoprotein, on HSinduced anorexia, inflammation, and gut microbiota dysbiosis in Simmental beef cattle. The cattle were divided into two groups, receiving either normal chow or normal chow plus TPS (8 g/kg, 0.8%). Hepatic transcriptomics analysis revealed that differentially expressed genes in TPS-fed cattle were primarily enriched in immune processes and lymphocyte activation. TPS administration significantly reduced the expression of the TLR4/NF-κB inflammatory signaling pathway, alleviating HS-induced hepatic inflammation. Gut microbiota analysis revealed that TPS improved intestinal homeostasis in HS-affected cattle by increasing bacterial diversity and increasing the relative abundances of Akkermansia and Alistipes while decreasing the Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidetes ratio and the abundance of Agathobacter. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis indicated that TPS significantly increased the levels of long-chain fatty acids, including stearic acid, linolenic acid, arachidonic acid, and adrenic acid, in the serum of cattle. These findings suggest that long-term consumption of tea polysaccharides can ameliorate heat stress-induced hepatic inflammation and gut microbiota dysbiosis in beef cattle, suggesting a possible liver-gut axis mechanism to mitigate heat stress.

    Keywords: Tea polysaccharides, Inflammation, Long-chain fatty acids, Gut micobiota, Liver

    Received: 06 Jul 2024; Accepted: 26 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Xu, Xie, Fei, Zhou, Li, Yelan, Gong, Hu and Feng. 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:
    Jun Xu, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang, China
    Min Xie, Institute of Quality Safety and Standards of Agricultural Products Research, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jiangxi, Jiangxi Province, China
    Dan Fei, Institute of Quality Safety and Standards of Agricultural Products Research, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jiangxi, Jiangxi Province, China
    Yaomin Zhou, Institute of Quality Safety and Standards of Agricultural Products Research, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jiangxi, Jiangxi Province, China
    Xiong Li, Pingxiang Center of Agricultural Science and Technology Research, Nan Chang, China
    Lihui Gong, Institute of Quality Safety and Standards of Agricultural Products Research, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jiangxi, Jiangxi Province, China
    Lizhen Hu, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang, China
    Fan Feng, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang, China

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