Nutrigenomic effect of conjugated linoleic acid on growth and meat quality indices of growing rabbit

PLoS One. 2019 Oct 10;14(10):e0222404. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222404. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Conjugated linoleic acid was detected in rabbit caecotrophs, due to the presence of microbial lipid activity in rabbit cecum. However, the effect of CLA as a functional food in growing rabbit is not well established. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effect of CLA on production, meat quality, and its nutrigenomic effect on edible parts of rabbit carcass including skeletal muscle, liver, and adipose tissue. Therefore, seventy five weaned V-Line male rabbits, 30 days old, were randomly allocated into three dietary treatments receiving either basal control diet, diet supplemented with 0.5% (CLAL), or 1% CLA (CLAH). Total experimental period (63 d) was segmented into 7 days adaptation and 56 days experimental period. Dietary supplementation of CLA did not alter growth performance, however, the fat percentage of longissimus lumborum muscle was decreased, with an increase in protein and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) percentage. Saturated fatty acids (SFA) and mono unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) were not increased in CLA treated groups. There was tissue specific sensing of CLA, since subcutaneous adipose tissue gene expression of PPARA was downregulated, however, CPT1A tended to be upregulated in liver of CLAL group only (P = 0.09). In skeletal muscle, FASN and PPARG were upregulated in CLAH group only (P ≤0.01). Marked cytoplasmic vacuolation was noticed in liver of CLAH group without altering hepatocyte structure. Adipocyte size was decreased in CLA fed groups, in a dose dependent manner (P <0.01). Cell proliferation determined by PCNA was lower (P <0.01) in adipose tissue of CLA groups. Our data indicate that dietary supplementation of CLA (c9,t11-CLA and t10,c12- CLA) at a dose of 0.5% in growing rabbit diet produce rabbit meat rich in PUFA and lower fat % without altering growth performance and hepatocyte structure.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adipose Tissue / drug effects
  • Adipose Tissue / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Body Composition / drug effects
  • Diet*
  • Dietary Supplements
  • Fatty Acids / metabolism
  • Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Linoleic Acids, Conjugated / pharmacology*
  • Lipids / analysis
  • Liver / metabolism
  • Meat / analysis
  • Muscle, Skeletal / drug effects
  • Muscle, Skeletal / metabolism*
  • Nutrigenomics
  • Rabbits
  • Subcutaneous Fat / drug effects
  • Subcutaneous Fat / metabolism

Substances

  • Fatty Acids
  • Fatty Acids, Unsaturated
  • Linoleic Acids, Conjugated
  • Lipids

Grants and funding

This study was partially funded by Research fund "band3" Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, http://vet.cu.edu.eg/Home. The author who received the fund is A.M. Abdelatty. The funder does not play any role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. There was no additional external or internal funding received for this study.