GnRH Immunocastration in Male Xizang Sheep: Impacts on Rumen Microbiome and Metabolite Profiles for Enhanced Health and Productivity

作者：Xiaoming Zhang, Tianzeng Song, Guiqiong Liu, Jing Wu, Yangzong Zhaxi, Shehr Bano Mustafa, Khuram Shahzad, Xiaoying Chen, Wangsheng Zhao, Xunping Jiang · 发表于：Animals · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.3390/ani14202942 · 被引用次数：7 · 研究领域：Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology、Reproductive Physiology in Livestock、Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock

Castration is a prevalent and indispensable practice in sheep husbandry, aiding in enhancing meat quality, mitigating aggressive behavior, and managing unwanted reproduction. Nevertheless, the conventional surgical castration procedure poses several challenges, including heightened stress and pain, detrimental impacts on animal welfare, and diminished economic efficacy in farming operations. Consequently, immunocastration methods, serving as substitutes for surgical castration, are progressively finding application in livestock. The rumen, an essential and distinctive digestive and absorptive organ in ruminants, has been associated with enhanced meat quality and productive performance following castration in previous research studies, albeit fewer investigations have explored the potential impacts of GnRH immunization on the rumen’s internal milieu in sheep post-de-escalation. Hence, the present study delved into evaluating the impact of GnRH immunocastration on the rumen microbiome and metabolomics in male Xizang sheep. This was achieved through the establishment of a GnRH immunocastration animal model and the collection of rumen fluid for microbiological and comprehensive metabolomics investigations. The outcomes of this investigation unveiled that the impact of GnRH immunocastration on body weight gain was more pronounced during the achievement of the castration objective. In addition, the Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidota ratio in the immune male (IM) group exceeded that of the ...