Unraveling the association of fecal microbiota and oxidative stress with stillbirth rate of sows

Abstract Previous studies have shown that the composition and function of gut microbiota possibly contribute to the oxidative stress and host metabolism of sows. However, a functional link between gut bacteria with oxidative stress and stillbirth rate of sows remain unclear. To address this issue, the reproductive performance, oxidative stress and gut microbiota of sows with high (H) and low (L) stillbirth rate were analyzed. Results showed that, compared with the H group, the L group had a shorter farrowing duration as well as higher concentration of serum total antioxidant capacity and hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity. For the gut microbiota composition of the tested sows, 6 genera differed between the two groups, 7 genera were correlative with stillbirth rate, and 2 genera were correlated with farrowing duration. The relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae_UCG-001 , Marvinbryantia and Ruminococcaceae_UCG-004 were negatively correlated with antioxidant capacity, but positively correlated with the stillbirth rate of sows. Furthermore, the microbiota functions in the polyketide sugar unit biosynthesis and nitrotoluene degradation were found to be different between the two groups through the phylotypic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states. Collectively, gut microbiota and their functions vary between sows with high or low stillbirth rate, while stillbirth rate and farrowing duration are significantly correlated with the gut microbiota composition and oxidative stress status of sows.