Scenedesmus is a common green algae genus with high biomass productivity, and has been widely used in biofuel production and waste water management. However, the suitability and metabolic consequences of using Scenedesmus as an animal feed ingredient have not been examined in detail. In this study, the influences of consuming Scenedesmus on the metabolic status of young mice were investigated through growth performance, blood chemistry, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based metabolomics. Compared to the control diet, feeding a diet containing 5% Scenedesmus improved growth performance while the diet containing 20% Scenedesmus suppressed it. Among common macronutrients-derived blood biochemicals, serum triacylglycerols and cholesterol levels were dramatically decreased by feeding the 20% Scenedesmus diet. Metabolomic analysis of liver, serum, feces, and urine samples indicated that Scenedesmus feeding greatly affected the metabolites associated with amino acid, lipid, purine, microbial metabolism, and the endogenous antioxidant system. The growth promotion effect of feeding the 5% Scenedesmus diet was associated with elevated concentrations of antioxidants, an expanded purine nucleotide cycle, and modified microbial metabolism, while the growth suppression effect of feeding the 20% Scenedesmus diet was correlated to oxidative stress, disrupted urea cycle, upregulated fatty acid oxidation, and an imbalanced lipidome. These correlations among Scenedesmus dietary inclusion rate, individual metabolite markers, and growth performance suggest the need to define the dietary inclusion rate threshold for using Scenedesmus and other microalgae supplements as feed ingredients, and also warrant further mechanistic investigations on the biological processes connecting specific constituents of Scenedesmus with the metabolic effects observed in this study.

Feeding high-fiber (HF) coproducts to grow–finish pigs as a cost-saving practice could compromise growth performance, while the inclusion of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) may improve it. The hindgut is a shared site of actions between fiber and AGPs. However, whether the metabolic interactions between them could occur in the digestive tract of pigs and then become detectable in feces have not been well-examined. In this study, wheat middling (WM), a HF coproduct, and bacitracin, a peptide antibiotic (AB), were fed to 128 grow–finish pigs for 98 days following a 2 × 2 factorial design, including antibiotic-free (AF) + low fiber (LF); AF + HF; AB + LF, and AB + HF, for growth and metabolic responses. The growth performance of the pigs was compromised by HF feedings but not by AB. A metabolomic analysis of fecal samples collected on day 28 of feeding showed that WM elicited comprehensive metabolic changes, especially in amino acids, fatty acids, and their microbial metabolites, while bacitracin caused selective metabolic changes, including in secondary bile acids. Limited metabolic interactions occurred between fiber and AB treatments. Moreover, the correlations between individual fecal metabolites and growth support the usage of fecal metabolome as a source of biomarkers for monitoring and predicting the metabolic performance of grow–finish pigs.

Acetate is an important metabolite in metabolic fluxes. Its presence in biological entities originates from both exogenous inputs and endogenous metabolism. Because the change in blood acetate level has been associated with both beneficial and adverse health outcomes, blood acetate analysis has been used to monitor the systemic status of acetate turnover. The present study examined the use of urinary N-acetyltaurine (NAT) as a marker to reflect the hyperacetatemic status of mice from exogenous inputs and endogenous metabolism, including triacetin dosing, ethanol dosing, and streptozotocin-induced diabetes. The results showed that triacetin dosing increased serum acetate and urinary NAT but not other N-acetylated amino acids in urine. The co-occurrences of increased serum acetate and elevated urinary NAT were also observed in both ethanol dosing and streptozotocin-induced diabetes. Furthermore, the renal cortex was determined as an active site for NAT synthesis. Overall, urinary NAT behaved as an effective marker of hyperacetatemia in three experimental mouse models, warranting further investigation into its application in humans.

Algae have been investigated and developed as a source of food, dietary supplement, and biofuel, due to their chemical and nutrient composition. However, the metabolic events in algae-elicited effects were not examined in details in spite of the fact that these benefits are largely based on the metabolic interactions between algal components and the biological system. In this study, the influences of consuming green algae ( Scenedesmus sp. ) on the metabolic status of young mice was investigated through growth performance, blood chemistry, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based metabolomics. Compared to the control diet, 5% algae promoted growth performance while 20% algae suppressed it. Serum glucose, triacylglycerols (TAG), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels were not affected by both treatments, but serum cholesterol level was dramatically decreased by 20% algae feeding. Metabolomic analysis of liver, serum, feces and urine samples indicated that algae feeding greatly affected the metabolites belonging to amino acid, lipid, microbial metabolism and antioxidant system. The growth promotion effect of 5% algae feeding was associated with the increased levels of hepatic reduced glutathione, niacinamide, dephophocoenzyme A, and adenylsuccinic acid. In contrast, the growth suppression effects of 20% algae feeding was correlated to the increased level of oxidized glutathione and carnitine in the liver, increased EPA and DHA in liver and serum, and increased acyl-glycine in the urine. Overall, multiple correlations between metabolite markers and growth performance in algae feeding were established in this study and could serve as a foundation for further mechanistic investigations on the biological effects of algae feeding.