High-concentrate diet decreases lamb fatty acid contents by regulating bile acid composition

Feeding sheep with high-concentrate diet (HCD) to shorten production cycle is a well-developed feeding strategy to increase lamb production. Here, metabolomics were performed to explore the mechanism that HCD changes lamb nutrition composition. Differential metabolites were enriched in primary bile acid biosynthesis. Significantly higher content of bile acids including taurodeoxycholic acid sodium salt (TDCA), taurochenodeoxycholic acid sodium salt (TCDCA) and taurocholic acid (TCA) was observed in lamb of HCD, while the content of lithocholic acid (LCA), cholic acid (CA), chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and Chenodeoxycholic acid-3-beta-D-glucuronide (CDCA-3Gln) were higher in the controls. Furthermore, a significantly decreased content of fatty acids was observed in lamb of HCD group. Finally, primary skeletal cells treated with CA or TCA showed a significant decrease in contents of fatty acids, while TCA showed a stronger effect in decreasing fatty acid contents. Collectively, we suggest that HCD decreases lamb fatty acid contents by regulating bile acid composition. • High-concentrate diet affects the metabolites composition of mutton. • Both CA and TCA inhibit the accumulation of fatty acids in skeletal muscle cells. • High-concentrate diet decreases mutton fatty acid contents by regulating bile acid composition.