Functional amino acids supplementation to farm animals is considered to not only be beneficial by regulating intestinal barrier, oxidative stress, and immunity, but potentially also by impacting the gut microbiota. The impact of amino acids on a piglet-derived colonic microbiota was evaluated using a 48-h in vitro batch incubation strategy. The combination of 16S rRNA gene profiling with flow cytometry demonstrated that specific microbial taxa were involved in the fermentation of each of the amino acids resulting in the production of specific metabolites. Branched chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, valine) strongly increased branched-chain fatty acids (+23.0 mM) and valerate levels (+3.0 mM), coincided with a marked increase of Peptostreptococcaceae. Further, glutamine and glutamate specifically stimulated acetate (~20 mM) and butyrate (~10 mM) production, relating to a stimulation of a range of families containing known butyrate-producing species (Ruminococcaceae, Oscillospiraceae, and Christensenellaceae). Finally, while tryptophan was only fermented to a minor extent, arginine and lysine specifically increased propionate levels (~2 mM), likely produced by Muribaculaceae members. Overall, amino acids were thus shown to be selectively utilized by microbes originating from the porcine colonic microbiota, resulting in the production of health-related short-chain fatty acids, thus confirming the prebiotic potential of specific functional amino acids.
Keywords: SCFA; amino acids; bCFA; colon; gut microbiota; piglet.