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Serine Supplementation in the Diets of Late Gestating and Lactating Sows Improves Selenium Nutritional Status in Sows and Their Offspring

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Abstract

Serine can regulate selenoprotein expression, and dietary serine is correlated with the contents of plasma selenoprotein P (Sepp1) and milk selenium (Se) in lactating mothers. Based on this, we investigated the effects of serine supplementation in the diets of late gestating and lactating sows on Sepp1 and Se contents in sows and their offspring. A total of 72 sows were assigned to four groups. During the experiment, sows were fed either a basal diet or basal diets supplemented with three different levels of serine. The results showed that maternal dietary serine had no effect on the Se content in the serum of sows and their offspring, whereas it significantly increased the Se content in the liver of piglets at the age of 21 days. Maternal dietary serine significantly increased Sepp1 content, either in the serum of sows or that in their offspring at the ages of 3 days, 7 days, and 21 days. Additionally, maternal dietary serine significantly increased litter weight and the average body weight of piglets at the age of 11 days. Notably, a positive correlation was found between the average body weight of piglets at the age of 11 days and serum Sepp1 content in piglets, at the age of either 3 days or 7 days. In conclusion, maternal dietary serine supplementation could improve Se nutritional status in sows and their offspring. These beneficial changes may contribute to the higher body weight of the offspring.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by “Huxiang Young Talents Plan” Project of Hunan Province (2019RS2046), Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS, and Earmarked Fund for China Agriculture Research System (CARS-35).

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Author notes

  1. Lamei Zhou and Yanzhong Feng contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutritional Physiology and Metabolic Process, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, 410125, China

    Lamei Zhou, Yonghui Liu, Liuqin He, Xihong Zhou & Yulong Yin

  2. College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, China

    Lamei Zhou & Yulong Yin

  3. Institute of Animal Husbandry, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, 150086, China

    Yanzhong Feng

  4. Hunan International Joint Laboratory of Animal Intestinal Ecology and Health, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410081, China

    Yonghui Liu, Liuqin He & Yulong Yin

Authors
  1. Lamei Zhou
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  2. Yanzhong Feng
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  3. Yonghui Liu
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  4. Liuqin He
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  5. Xihong Zhou
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  6. Yulong Yin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xihong Zhou.

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Ethics Approval

The study was conducted according to the principles of the animal welfare committee of the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences and was approved by the animal welfare committee of the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Zhou, L., Feng, Y., Liu, Y. et al. Serine Supplementation in the Diets of Late Gestating and Lactating Sows Improves Selenium Nutritional Status in Sows and Their Offspring. Biol Trace Elem Res 200, 609–614 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-021-02661-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-021-02661-x

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