Effects of dietary resveratrol supplementation on growth performance and muscle fiber type transformation in weaned piglets

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary resveratrol supplementation on growth performance and muscle fiber type transformation in weaned piglets. In this study, fifty-four 28-day-old DLY (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) weaned piglets were randomly divided into three dietary treatments and fed with a basal diet (control group), a basal diet supplemented with 150 mg/kg resveratrol or a basal diet supplemented with 300 mg/kg resveratrol. After the 42-day feeding trial, weaned piglets were slaughtered and then their longissimus dorsi muscles were collected. Here we showed that dietary resveratrol supplementation had no effect on growth performance of weaned piglets. The results also showed that dietary resveratrol supplementation increased the expression of slow MyHC, the activities of succinic dehydrogenase and malate dehydrogenase and the proportion of type I fiber, as well as decreased the activity of lactate dehydrogenase and the proportion of type II fiber, suggesting that resveratrol promoted muscle fiber type transformation from type II to type I in weaned piglets. In addition, dietary resveratrol supplementation increased the protein level of phosphorylated AMPK, the active form of AMPK, suggesting that resveratrol activates AMPK. The upstream factor of Sirt1 and the downstream factor of PGC-1α were also increased by resveratrol. Taken together, these findings showed that dietary resveratrol supplementation promoted muscle fiber type transformation from type II to type I through the Sirt1/AMPK/PGC-1α signal pathway in weaned piglets.