Heat stress modifies the lactational performances and the urinary metabolomic profile related to gastrointestinal microbiota of dairy goats

PLoS One. 2019 Feb 8;14(2):e0202457. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202457. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

The aim of the study is to identify the candidate biomarkers of heat stress (HS) in the urine of lactating dairy goats through the application of proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H NMR)-based metabolomic analysis. Dairy does (n = 16) in mid-lactation were submitted to thermal neutral (TN; indoors; 15 to 20°C; 40 to 45% humidity) or HS (climatic chamber; 37°C day, 30°C night; 40% humidity) conditions according to a crossover design (2 periods of 21 days). Thermophysiological traits and lactational performances were recorded and milk composition analyzed during each period. Urine samples were collected at day 15 of each period for 1H NMR spectroscopy analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) assessment with cross validation were used to identify the goat urinary metabolome from the Human Metabolome Data Base. HS increased rectal temperature (1.2°C), respiratory rate (3.5-fold) and water intake (74%), but decreased feed intake (35%) and body weight (5%) of the lactating does. No differences were detected in milk yield, but HS decreased the milk contents of fat (9%), protein (16%) and lactose (5%). Metabolomics allowed separating TN and HS urinary clusters by PLS-DA. Most discriminating metabolites were hippurate and other phenylalanine (Phe) derivative compounds, which increased in HS vs. TN does. The greater excretion of these gut-derived toxic compounds indicated that HS induced a harmful gastrointestinal microbiota overgrowth, which should have sequestered aromatic amino acids for their metabolism and decreased the synthesis of neurotransmitters and thyroid hormones, with a negative impact on milk yield and composition. In conclusion, HS markedly changed the thermophysiological traits and lactational performances of dairy goats, which were translated into their urinary metabolomic profile through the presence of gut-derived toxic compounds. Hippurate and other Phe-derivative compounds are suggested as urinary biomarkers to detect heat-stressed dairy animals in practice.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biomarkers / metabolism
  • Body Weight
  • Female
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome / physiology
  • Goats / metabolism*
  • Goats / physiology
  • Heat Stress Disorders / metabolism
  • Heat-Shock Response / physiology*
  • Hot Temperature
  • Humidity
  • Lactation / metabolism*
  • Metabolomics / methods
  • Milk / metabolism
  • Milk Proteins / metabolism
  • Stress, Physiological / physiology

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Milk Proteins

Grants and funding

This study was part of 2 research projects funded by the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Spain (Project AGL2013-44061-R, to AAKS and GC, and Project RTA205-00035-C03-02, to GC) and it was also supported by a research scholarship to ACJ from the same funding source (Reference ES-2012-052602). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.