ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1699614
This article is part of the Research TopicExplore the Milk Microbiome: Nutritional Strategies to Enhance Dairy Production and Milk QualityView all articles
BCAA supplementation enhances milk fat synthesis in Yili mares and promotes foal growth through remodeling of intestinal amino acid metabolism
Provisionally accepted
- Xinjiang Agricultural University, Ürümqi, China
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This study evaluated the effects of graded supplementation of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) in lactating mares on lactation performance, foal growth, and metabolic responses. Twenty mare-foal pairs were assigned to control, low- (38 g/d), medium- (76 g/d), or high-dose (114 g/d) groups. Milk and blood samples were collected over 60 days for composition, hormone, and metabolomic analyses. Fecal microbiota was also examined. BCAAs supplementation interacted with lactation stage, enhancing milk fat yield and increasing milk growth hormone and progesterone. The medium dose (76 g/d) was effective, while 114 g/d showed the strongest effects. High-dose BCAAs altered organic acid abundance, influencing lipid, energy, and BCAA metabolism, correlating with milk composition changes. In foals, altered milk reduced serum BCAAs and other amino acids but elevated growth hormones (GH, INS, IGF-1) dose-dependently. Antioxidant and immune parameters were unaffected. The high dose increased blood urea nitrogen, indicating higher nitrogen load, whereas the medium dose supported growth without metabolic stress. Fecal microbiota analysis revealed enriched amino acid degradation pathways, especially for BCAAs. We conclude that BCAAs supplementation regulates milk fat synthesis and promotes foal growth via a milk–microbiota–metabolism axis, providing a basis for improving milk quality and offspring development through maternal nutrition.
Keywords: MARES, Mare milk, Branched-chain amino acids, Foals, fecal microbiota
Received: 05 Sep 2025; Accepted: 15 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Meng, Zeng, Wang, Yao and Meng. 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: Jun Meng, junm86@xjau.edu.cn
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