Metabolic profiles in the response to supplementation with composite antimicrobial peptides in piglets challenged with deoxynivalenol.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) causes various toxic effects in human and animals. However, our previous studies have shown that composite antimicrobial peptides (CAP) can have a protective effect in piglets challenged with DON. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the CAP GLAM 180# on the metabolism of piglets challenged with DON using a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics approach. A total of 28 individually housed piglets (Duroc × Landrace × Large Yorkshire) weaned at 28 d of age were randomly assigned into 4 treatment groups (7 pigs/treatment) based on a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement that were fed, respectively, a basal diet (NC), basal diet + 0.4% CAP (basal + CAP), basal diet + 4 mg/kg DON (basal + DON), and basal diet + 4 mg/kg DON + 0.4% CAP (DON + CAP). A 7-d adaptation period was followed by 30 d of treatment. Blood samples were then collected for metabolite analysis by proton NMR (H-NMR) spectroscopy and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The combined results of H-NMR spectroscopy and LC-MS/MS showed that DON increased ( < 0.05) the serum concentrations of low-density lipoprotein, glycoprotein, urea, trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), and lactate as well as those of almost all essential AA and some nonessential AA but decreased the concentrations of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), unsaturated lipids, citrate, choline, and fumarate compared with those in NC treatment ( < 0.05). There was a significant interaction effect ( < 0.05) of supplementation with DON and CAP on some metabolites showed that the serum concentrations of HDL, unsaturated lipids, Pro, citrate, and fumarate were greater ( < 0.05) whereas those of glycoprotein, urea, TMAO, Gly, and lactate were lower in the DON + CAP treatment compared with those in the basal + DON treatment ( < 0.05). These findings indicated that DON causes disturbances in AA, lipid, and energy metabolism and that CAP could partially attenuate the above metabolic disturbances induced by DON.