Effects of amino acid intake level in pregnant pigs on plasma metabolome (643.3)

The objective of this study was to determine commonalities and differences in the metabolome in non‐pregnant pigs and in early (EG), late (LG) and entire pregnancy during the study of amino acid (AA) requirements. Each pig was fed 6 levels of test AA at maintenance and in both EG and LG. The metabolome of 331 plasma samples from 19 sows in their 2nd to 4th parity was analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance, gas chromatography‐mass spectroscopy (MS) and direct injection MS. Data were evaluated using partial least square‐discriminant analysis (PLS‐DA) in www.metaboanalyst.ca . Across AA tested, AA limitation affected (P<0.05) the metabolome at maintenance and in EG but not in LG. The AA level, across AA tested, was only significant in EG (P=0.01). For AA level, only urea was an important feature in maintenance, EG and LG. There were no common metabolites for AA limitation. The AA tested (Thr, Ile, Lys, Trp) affected (P<0.001) the metabolome at maintenance and in the entire pregnancy, EG and LG. Within AA tested, no significant results were found for Ile and Trp because of fewer observations (<40). The stage of pregnancy affected (P<0.05) the metabolome when studying Thr or Lys. In EG and LG, threonine and aminoadipate were the only common features for Thr and Lys, respectively. For Lys, AA limitation affected (P=0.036) the metabolome in EG but not in LG. For Thr, AA level affected (P=0.029) the metabolome in LG but not in EG. In this study, PLS‐DA could not identify common key metabolites for different AA and status of pregnancy. Metabolomics to determine key metabolites for the effect of AA intake needs to be applied within AA tested and within stage of pregnancy in pigs. Grant Funding Source : Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency