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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Effects of dietary valine-to-lysine ratio on placenta growth, the placental nutrient transporters, and reproductive performance in sows

Kai Wang A , Junze Liu A , Liangyu Zhao A , Yansen Li A and Chunmei Li https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6049-1970 A *
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A Research Center for Livestock Environmental Control and Smart Production, College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.

* Correspondence to: chunmeili@njau.edu.cn

Handling Editor: Sathya Velmurugan

Animal Production Science 63(8) 742-750 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN23055
Submitted: 5 February 2023  Accepted: 25 February 2023   Published: 21 March 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Context: Valine-to-lysine ratio (V:L) in the diet has been found to affect the placental development of sows, and thus the production performance, but the mechanism is still unclear.

Aim: To investigate the effects of the V:L on placental growth and reproductive performance of sow.

Methods: Twenty-seven sows (average parities = 5) from 85 days of gestation were randomly assigned into five experimental groups with five ratios of total V:L of 0.75:1, 0.87:1, 0.99:1, 1.11:1, 1.23:1. Litter size was recorded. The placenta and colostrum were collected immediately after farrowing for mRNA analysis.

Key results: The results showed that dietary valine increased the sows’ placental area and the fetal-to-placental weight ratio (P < 0.05). Dietary valine does not affect the litter size of sows, but significantly reduces the delivery time and accelerates the delivery process. Dietary valine improved the average daily feed intake of the sows in the lactation (P < 0.05) and decreased the number of stillborns (P < 0.05). Additionally, the placental gene expression of LAT1, 4F2hc, LAT2, LAT3, SNAT1, SNAT2, and SNAT4 increased in the groups whose diet contained higher V:L ratios (P < 0.01). The increase in the ratio of dietary V:L increased the expression of GLUT1, GLUT3 and GLUT4 genes in the placenta tissue (P < 0.01).

Conclusions: The results suggested that suitable V:L positively affects pregnant and lactating sow’s performance.

Implications: Therefore, V:L can be adjusted to promote sow reproductive performance and increase production efficiency.

Keywords: amino acid transport, lysine, nutrient, placenta, piglet, reproductive performance, sow, valine.


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