Improvement of seminal quality and microbiota diversity in heat-stressed boars through dietary L-arginine supplementation
Kai Wang, Yunpeng Suo, Xiaotong Li, Kentaro Nagaoka, Yansen Li, Chunmei Li
Abstract
Heat stress negatively impacts boar reproductive performance. L-arginine (L-Arg) supplementation may help improve semen quality and gut microbiota during summer conditions. This study aimed to investigate the effect of dietary L-arginine supplementation on scrotal surface temperature, semen quality, semen antioxidant status, fecal testosterone content, and fecal microbiota in heat-stress boars during hot summer months. In the experiment, 15 boars of similar age (large white, about 480 d of age), body condition, and semen quality were selected and divided into three groups equally. The results showed that adding 1.6% L-Arg to the diet significantly improved the semen quality parameters of summer boars (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05). After adding 0.8% and 1.6% L-Arg to the diet, the antioxidant capacity of boar semen was significantly improved (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05). By analyzing the differential microbiota, at the phylum level, the Arg group had significantly reduced <italic>Synergistota</italic> abundance (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05); at the family level, the abundance of <italic>Acholeplasmataceae</italic> and <italic>Synergistaceae</italic> decreased significantly in the Arg group (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05); at the genus level, the UCG-002, <italic>Lachnospiraceae_XPB1014_</italic>group and <italic>Coprococcus</italic> were significantly enriched in the Arg group (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05). In the correlation analysis, there were different degrees of correlation between differential microbiota and semen quality indicators. The results provide a theoretical basis for L-Arg to improve semen quality in summer boars based on gut microbiota.