Han Di, Zheng Zibin, Su Zhenyu, Wang Xianliu, Ding Shiwei, Wang Chunyan, He Liwen, Zhang Wei
State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Liaoning Agricultural and Rural Development Service Center, Shenyang 111000, China.
Antioxidants (Basel). 2025 May 27;14(6):645. doi: 10.3390/antiox14060645.
Liaoning cashmere goats is a dual-purpose breed valued for premium cashmere fiber and meat yields, and there is currently a lack of optimized strategies for meat quality, including skeletal muscle development and lipid partitioning. This investigation systematically examines how melatonin administration modulates gastrointestinal microbiota and antioxidant capacity to concurrently enhance skeletal muscle hypertrophy and redirect lipid deposition patterns, ultimately improving meat quality and carcass traits in Liaoning cashmere goats. Thirty female half-sibling kids were randomized into control and melatonin-treated groups (2 mg/kg live weight with subcutaneous implants). Postmortem analyses at 8 months assessed carcass traits, meat quality, muscle histology, plasma metabolites, and gut microbiota (16S rRNA sequencing). Melatonin supplementation decreased visceral adiposity (perirenal, omental, and mesenteric fat depots with a < 0.05) while inducing muscle fiber hypertrophy ( (LTL) and biceps femoris (BF) with < 0.05). The melatonin-treated group demonstrated elevated postmortem pHh values, attenuated muscle drip loss, enhanced intramuscular protein deposition, and improved systemic antioxidant status (characterized by increased catalase and glutathione levels with concomitant reduction in malondialdehyde with < 0.05). Melatonin reshaped gut microbiota, increasing α-diversity ( < 0.05) and enriching beneficial genera (, , and ), while suppressing lipogenic populations, and concomitant with improved intestinal morphology as evidenced by elevated villus height-to-crypt depth ratios. These findings establish that melatonin-mediated gastrointestinal microbiota remodeling drives anabolic muscle protein synthesis while optimizing fat deposition, providing a scientifically grounded strategy to enhance meat quality.
辽宁绒山羊是一种兼用型品种，因其优质的羊绒纤维和肉产量而受到重视，目前缺乏针对肉质的优化策略，包括骨骼肌发育和脂质分配。本研究系统地探讨了褪黑素给药如何调节胃肠道微生物群和抗氧化能力，以同时增强骨骼肌肥大并改变脂质沉积模式，最终改善辽宁绒山羊的肉质和胴体性状。30只雌性半同胞羔羊被随机分为对照组和褪黑素处理组（皮下植入，剂量为2 mg/kg体重）。8个月时的宰后分析评估了胴体性状、肉质、肌肉组织学、血浆代谢物和肠道微生物群（16S rRNA测序）。补充褪黑素可降低内脏脂肪含量（肾周、网膜和肠系膜脂肪库，P<0.05），同时诱导肌纤维肥大（腰大肌（LTL）和股二头肌（BF），P<0.05）。褪黑素处理组宰后pHh值升高，肌肉滴水损失减轻，肌内蛋白质沉积增加，全身抗氧化状态改善（以过氧化氢酶和谷胱甘肽水平升高以及丙二醛水平降低为特征，P<0.05）。褪黑素重塑了肠道微生物群，增加了α多样性（P<0.05），丰富了有益菌属（双歧杆菌属、普雷沃氏菌属和瘤胃球菌属），同时抑制了产脂菌种群，并且伴随着肠道形态的改善，绒毛高度与隐窝深度比值升高证明了这一点。这些发现表明，褪黑素介导的胃肠道微生物群重塑驱动合成代谢性肌肉蛋白合成，同时优化脂肪沉积，为提高肉质提供了科学依据的策略。
