ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1598365
Probiotic Hungatella hathewayi increases host estrogen level via regulation of gut microbiota and host metabolism in sows
Provisionally accepted
- 1Ningbo Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ningbo, China
- 2Xiangshan Anji Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Service Co. LTD, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China
- 3Ningbo GooseBeller Poultry Industry Technology Development Co. LTD, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China
- 4Institute of Animal Science, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The objective of this study was to explore the effect of Hungatella hathewayi (HH) supplementation on sows' hormone levels, antioxidative capacity, host metabolism and gut microbiota. Twenty healthy Large × Yorkshire sows with similar physical conditions were randomly divided into four groups based on the principle of similar weight (n = 5). The control group was fed a basal diet, while the treatment groups received the basal diet supplemented with 5 × 10 10 , 5 × 10 11 , and 5 × 10 12 CFU/sow of HH. Supplementation with HH was administered every three days over a treatment duration of 30 days. Serum and feces of sows were collected at the end of experiment.Dietary HH supplementation significantly increased the estrogen concentration in sows but did not alter the levels of FSH, progestogen, or antioxidative capacity (T-AOC, SOD, and MDA). 16S rRNA sequencing indicated that HH treatment altered the gut microbial composition and metabolism, increasing the relative abundance of Roseburia, Alloprevotella, Lachnospira, Anaerovibrio, and Hungatella in the HH group. Further metabolomic analysis suggested that the differentially accumulated metabolites from serum and feces involved changes in the metabolism of pyrimidine and tryptophan, as well as alterations in steroid hormone biosynthesis. These results indicate that dietary supplementation with Hungatella hathewayi could influence host estrogen levels by regulating gut microbiota and host metabolism.
Keywords: Hungatella hathewayi, Sows, Reproduction, Hormones, multi-omics
Received: 24 Mar 2025; Accepted: 16 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Shi, Zhou, Dai, Jia, Dong, Wang, Shen and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Shufang Chen, Ningbo Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ningbo, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.