Qiankun Gao's research while affiliated with Chinese Academy of Sciences and other places

... In a study by Hayakawa et al. [81], the inclusion of probiotics from three different sources (Bacillus mesentericus, Clostriduim butyricum, and Enterococcus faecailis) in sow diets was found to shorten the length of gestation and increase litter weight at delivery, although no improvements were seen in the growth parameters of piglets suckling from sows fed the probiotics. Similarly, some studies have found evidence that maternal probiotic supplementation can increase the populations of potentially beneficial microbial populations in the feces of both sows and piglets [151][152][153] and a reduction in populations of potentially harmful bacterial populations, like the reduction of β-haemolytic E. coli isolates in piglet feces nursing from sows fed a probiotic during gestation [154], all of which can improve piglet growth performance and health. ...

... Betaine acts as the methyl donor and could regulate lipid metabolism, and maltotriose is the primary product from dietary starch and maltodextrin, which is ultimately digested to glucose. 47,48 Therefore, the potential effects on glucose and lipid metabolism were further validated in zebrafish larvae upon DBDPE exposure ( Figure 2G). We found that the glucose levels were significantly increased, while the pyruvic acid contents were significantly decreased in zebrafish larvae exposed to 400 μg/L DBDPE (P < 0.05; Figure 2G1,G2). ...

... The production performance of pigs relies on the efficient digestion and absorption of nutrients within their bodies (Cheng et al., 2021;Ma et al., 2022). During the process of nutrient digestion and absorption, the microorganisms present in the intestinal tract of pigs play various roles. ...

... Our recent study reported that maternal betaine supplementation during gestation and lactation alleviated inflammation and oxidative stress by decreasing the plasma levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and malondialdehyde (MDA) in suckling piglets [16]. However, the effects of betaine supplementation in sows and/or their offspring diets on the offspring piglets' redox and inflammatory status, colonic barrier function, and colonic microbiota colonization, and the underlying mechanism of betaine regulating the intestinal barrier function still remained unclear. ...

... Probiotics and synbiotics, common feed additives in livestock production, are widely used to enhance the animals' health and performance. Our previous studies demonstra ted that diets supplemented with probiotics and synbiotics have beneficial effects on the reproductive performance and gut microbiota structure of sows, as well as the intestinal barrier function, antioxidant function, immunity function, and meat quality of offspring piglets (21)(22)(23). The present study determined the effects of supplementing probiot ics and synbiotics in sow-offspring diets on colonic microbiota composition and their metabolites and the lipid metabolism of skeletal muscle of offspring piglets. ...

... Sharpea and [Ruminococcus] gauvreauii group enhance the degradation of starch and glycogen. Sharpea ferments starch and melibiose to produce lactic acid and CO 2 (Morita et al., 2008); lactic acid reduces gut pH and inhibits the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria, and, consequently, Sharpea is beneficial for the host's health (Xu et al., 2018;Ma et al., 2020). Ruminococcus 2 (family Ruminoccoccaceae) ferments starch to produce propionate (Tong et al., 2018;Chen et al., 2021), while [Ruminococcus] gauvreauii group, (Lachnospiraceae) ferments glucose into acetic acid (Domingo et al., 2008). ...

... Serum total protein, albumin and globulin concentration decreased significantly (P<0.05) during transition phase with the lowest concentration at day -3 to +3 of farrowing (Table 2). Similar results were reported during peripartum period in sows (Huang et al., 2021;Patra et al., 2021;Ma et al., 2020;Ji et al., 2019;Gaykwad et al., 2019). It might be due to the increased fetal demand for the albumin due to its exponential growth throughout late pregnancy and approaching parturition as well as extracellular fluid expansion. ...

... In the current study, B. subtilis supplementation to the nursery diets at 1.875 × 10 5 CFU/g diet increased individual SCFA concentrations in feces, including acetate, propionate, butyrate, and isovalerate, at d 28 postweaning, resulting in the greatest total SCFA concentrations in feces among dietary treatments. Previous studies reported that B. subtilis supplementation to a weaned pig diet increased SCFA concentrations in the digesta [6,23], which agrees with the current study results. The SCFA and branched-chain fatty acids play important roles in gut integrity as the energy source, nutrient absorption, and gut microbiota in pigs [23,24]. ...