Cornelia C. Metges

Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) | FBN · Nutritional Physiology

A stable gut microbiota promotes a healthy gut and enhances immune function, antioxidant status, and metabolic activities in chickens. The present research work aimed to investigate the modulatory impacts of in ovo delivery of prebiotic and probiotic on oxidative stress, the intestinal transcriptome, and various plasma metabolites in chickens. Fert...

Diet, especially the intake of dietary fibre, and weaning practices may influence pig wellbeing. This study assessed changes in salivary stress and immune markers in sows and their offspring fed either hay (HAY) or sugar beet pulp (SBP), either fine (F) or coarse (C), during gestation and lactation. The effect of weaning age (conventional-CW, late-...

During parasite infections, the liver may prioritise immune-related pathways over its metabolic functions. Intestinal infections caused by Ascaridia galli and Heterakis gallinarum impair feed intake, nutrient absorption, and weight gain. Histomonas meleagridis, vectored by H. gallinarum , can also damage liver tissues, potentially impairing liver f...

We investigated if feeding earthworms (EW) or vermicompost (VC) to broilers improves performance and aids in coping with dietary challenges from a soluble non-starch polysaccharide (NSP)-enriched diet (negative control diet; CON-). Newly-hatched male Cobb-500 birds (N = 480) were fed either a positive (+) control diet (CON+, n = 240) or CON+ supple...

Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) can accumulate minerals, including P and Ca, from sewage sludge recyclates (SSR), and may therefore be used as a protein- and mineral-enriched component in poultry rations. In this study, the effects of supplementing SSR mineral-enriched BSFL on broiler performance and health were investigated. BSFL were grown on a f...

The recycling of minerals is crucial for the future circular agriculture. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) can accumulate minerals in their body. This study investigated the effects of adding mineral-enriched BSFL, grown on substrates containing sewage sludge recyclates (SSR), to broiler feed to reintroduce minerals from waste streams currently subj...

Global rock phosphorus sources are finite and expensive. New recycling technologies (e.g. Ash2Phos) are emerging. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) accumulate minerals from sewage sludge recylates (SSR). Mineral-enriched BSFL can make up to 20% of broiler rations.

Investigate the effect of Gln supplementation of suckling piglets from 1 – 11 d on pre- and post-weaning BW development, and the immunological response to an LPS challenge at 54 d.

Plasma metabolites and amino acids in neonatal low and normal birth weight piglets

Breeding for higher fertility has resulted in a higher number of low birthweight (LBW) piglets. It has been shown that LBW piglets grow slower than normal birthweight (NBW) littermates. Differences in growth performance have been associated with impaired small intestinal development. In suckling and weaning piglets, glutamine (Gln) supplementation...

Background Gut infections of chickens caused by Ascaridia galli and Heterakis gallinarum are associated with impaired host performance, particularly in high-performing genotypes. Heterakis gallinarum is also a vector of Histomonas meleagridis that is often co-involved with ascarid infections. Here, we provide a first insight into the alteration of...

Phosphorous (P) resources are finite. Sewage sludge recyclates (SSR) are not only of interest as plant fertilizer but also as potential source of minerals in animal nutrition. However, besides P and calcium (Ca), SSR contain heavy metals. Under EU legislation, the use of SSR derivatives in animal feed is not permitted, but given the need to improve...

Background A coproantigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has recently been proposed for detecting ascarid infections in chickens. The excretion pattern of ascarid antigens through chicken faeces and the consistency of measurements over the course of infections are currently unknown. This study evaluates the pattern and repeatability of w...

Mineral and heavy metal accumulation in black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae (BSFL) is of growing interest. The bioaccumulation of elements in BSFL is usually assessed by a bioaccumulation factor (BAF), which is the ratio between the concentration of an element in the organism and in its feeding substrate. Recently, a new index, i.e. bioacc...

Society is becoming increasingly critical of animal husbandry due to its environmental impact and issues involving animal health and welfare including scientific experiments conducted on farm animals. This opens up two new fields of scientific research, the development of non- or minimally invasive (1) methods and techniques using faeces, urine, br...

One way to improve the growth of low-birth-weight (LBW) piglets can be stimulation of the cellular development of muscle by optimized amino acid supply. In the current study, it was investigated how glutamine (Gln) supplementation affects muscle tissue of LBW and normal-birth-weight (NBW) piglets. Longissimus and semitendinosus muscles of 96 male p...

Dietary fiber (DF) is receiving increasing attention, and its importance in pig nutrition is now acknowledged. Although DF for pigs was frowned upon for a long time because of reductions in energy intake and digestibility of other nutrients, it has become clear that feeding DF to pigs can affect their well-being and health. This review aims to summ...

A feeding experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of feeding defrosted whole black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) to broilers in increasing levels in the ration on blood metabolites, carcass characteristics (CC) and on changes in fatty acid (FA) composition in plasma, muscle and abdominal fat. Day-old chicks (Ross-308; n=252) were assigned to...

In recent years, interest in the larvae of black soldier fly (BSF) ( Hermetia illucens ) as a sustainable protein resource for livestock feed has increased considerably. However, knowledge on the nutritional and physiological aspects of this insect, especially compared to other conventional farmed animals is scarce. This review presents a critical...

Mortality, impaired development and metabolic dysfunctions of suckling low-birthweight piglets may be influenced by modulating the intestinal microbiome through glutamine supplementation. Therefore, this study examined whether glutamine supplementation may affect the colonic development and microbiome composition of male low- and normal-birthweight...

Whole BSFL can be fed to broilers not only for decreasing soybean-protein in diets but also to improve animal welfare. How much whole BSFL could be fed to broilers is however unknown. We assessed apparent interest of broilers in eating BSFL when offered with either 10% (L10), 20% (L20) or 30% (L30) of voluntary feed intake (FI) of control chickens...

Meal of Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL), which requires extraction of protein and fat, is a novel protein source for poultry, while unprocessed whole BSFL could even directly be fed to chickens. Newly hatched Ross-308 chicks (n = 252) received whole BSFL at 10% (L10), 20% (L20) or 30% (L30) of voluntary feed intake (FI) of control chickens (CON) th...

Background/Aims Patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP) have an increased risk of malnutrition, a condition linked to reduced muscle mass and physical performance. We have investigated the risk factors, phenotypic presentation, and health implications associated with malnutrition in CP. Materials and Methods In a multicenter cross-sectional study...

Background It has been shown that small intestine development in low birth weight (LBW) piglets is impaired. Glutamine (Gln) has been reported to improve piglet health and intestinal function in weaned piglets, but data is scarce in suckling piglets. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of oral Gln supplementation compared to Alanine...

Soybean meal in poultry diets can be replaced by defatted black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) meal without affecting performance [1]. However, whole BSFL could be fed to chickens directly without processing [2]. We investigated the effects of different inclusion levels of unprocessed BSFL in broiler diets on metabolism, immune status, carcass character...

Black Soldier Fly larvae (BSFL) are known for their high Ca content [1]. They are one of only a few insect species to contain a wide calcium (Ca):phosphorus (P) ratio of up to 8.2:1 [2] [3]. We hypothesized that inclusion of up to 30% unprocessed BSFL in broiler diets have a positive influence on mineralization, in particular the ash, Ca and P cont...

Low birthweight (LBW) neonates show impaired growth compared with normal birthweight (NBW) neonates. Glutamine supplementation benefits growth of weaning piglets, while the effect on newborn piglets is not sufficiently clear. We examined the effect of early neonatal glutamine supplementation on piglet growth, milk intake, and metabolic parameters....

The composition of breast milk is influenced by maternal nutrition and plays a pivotal role in offspring development. Among others, milk oligosaccharides (OS) promote the growth of beneficial intestinal bacteria, modulate host-epithelial immune response, and prevent pathogen adhesion. Prebiotics are indigestible dietary fiber to the host, serve as...

Protein imbalance during pregnancy affects women in underdeveloped and developing countries and is associated with compromised offspring growth and an increased risk of metabolic diseases in later life. We studied in a porcine model the glucose and urea metabolism, and circulatory hormone and metabolite profile of offspring exposed during gestation...

The purpose was to assess the effect of exchanging crude protein (CP) of soybean meal (SBM) with red clover silage (RCS) in total mixed rations (TMR) on ruminal degradation and intestinal digestibility (ID) of essential amino acids (EAA). Four TMR and their individual feed components were studied. The TMR were composed of forage and concentrates (7...

Muscle growth of low birth weight (LBW) piglets may be improved with adapted nutrition. This study elucidated effects of glutamine (Gln) supplementation on the cellular muscle development of LBW and normal birth weight (NBW) piglets. Male piglets (n = 144) were either supplemented with 1 g Gln/kg body weight or an isonitrogeneous amount of alanine...

Prebiotic supplements and high-protein (HP) diets reduce body weight and modulate intestinal microbiota. Our aim was to elucidate the combined effect of an inulin/oligofructose (FOS) and HP diet on body weight gain, energy metabolism and faecal microbiota. Forty male C57BL/6NCrl mice were fed a control (C) diet for 2 weeks and allocated to a C or H...

Piglets with low birth weight (LBW) usually have reduced muscle mass and increased lipid deposition compared with their normal-birth-weight (NBW) littermates. Supplementation of piglets with amino acids during the first days of life may improve muscle growth and simultaneously alter the intramuscular lipid deposition. The aim of the current study w...

Background Histomonosis is a severe re-emerging disease of poultry caused by Histomonas meleagridis , a protozoan parasite which survives in the environment via the cecal worm Heterakis gallinarum . Following infection, the parasites reside in the ceca and are excreted via host feces. In the present work, male birds of conventional broiler (Ross 30...

Nematode infections may induce immune-modulatory effects and influence host-immune responses to other pathogens. The aim of the study was to investigate whether a mixed nematode-infection influences non-specific and vaccine-induced humoral immunity against Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV), Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV), and Avian Metapneumovirus (...

Here, we describe the first transcriptomic investigation of the peripheral blood of chickens exposed to Ascaridia galli and Heterakis gallinarum infections. We investigated differentially expressed gene (DEG) patterns in two chicken genotypes with either a higher (Lohmann Brown Plus, LB) or lower (Lohmann Dual, LD) laying performance level. The hen...

Insect larvae are part of the natural diet of poultry. In recent years, the meal of the Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL; Hermetia illucens L.) has been suggested as an alternative source of protein to soybean and hence, as a potential ingredient for chicken feed (1). The inclusion of BSFL-meal in the poultry diets implies the extraction of protein a...

The sensitivity of pigs to deoxynivalenol (DON) might be influenced by systemic inflammation (SI) which impacts liver. Besides following acute-phase proteins, our aim was to investigate both the hepatic fractional albumin (ALB) synthesis rate (FSR) and the ALB concentration as indicators of ALB metabolism in presence and absence of SI induced by LP...

Adapted nutrition can improve the growth of low birth weight (LBW) piglets. Since maternal milk is thought to provide insufficient glutamine (Gln) for LBW piglets, the current study investigated the influence of Gln supplementation during the early suckling period on development and lipid deposition in skeletal muscle. The weight differences betwee...

Despite the crucial role of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in proper immune responses, the effect of GR hypersensitivity on inflammation is rarely reported. To fill this knowledge gap, we exploited the natural gain-of-function substitution in the porcine glucocorticoid receptor (GRAla610Val) and challenged pigs carrying normal or hypersensitive GR us...

Background and Aim Malnutrition is a frequent complication of chronic pancreatitis. Adequate nutritional support is imperative but there is still uncertainty about the optimal nutritional treatment. This work systematically compiles evidence from randomized controlled trials investigating dietary interventions in chronic pancreatitis, and, in a fur...

Liver cirrhosis is frequently accompanied by disease-related malnutrition (DRM) and sarcopenia, defined as loss of skeletal muscle mass and function. DRM and sarcopenia often coexist in cirrhotic patients and are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The clinical manifestation of both comorbidities are triggered by multifactorial mecha...

Muscle wasting represents a constant pathological feature of common chronic gastrointestinal diseases, including liver cirrhosis (LC), inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), chronic pancreatitis (CP) and pancreatic cancer (PC), and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Recent clinical and experimental studies point to the existence of a...

Archaeol is a cell membrane lipid of methanogenic archaea excreted in feces and is therefore a potential biomarker for individual methane emission (MEM). The aims of this study were to examine the potential of the fecal archaeol concentration (fArch) to be a proxy for MEM prediction in cows fed different diets and determine if the time of fecal col...

Faecal egg counting techniques (ECTs) are useful tools for assessing anthelmintic efficacy and selecting hosts resistant to parasite infection. McMaster (MM) is one of the most commonly used ECTs, but it suffers from low sensitivity and precision. Mini-FLOTAC (MF) has been proposed to replace MM, but so far has not been evaluated for gastro-intesti...

Einfluss einer maternalen Supplementierung mit 10% Inulin/FOS zu einer Hochfett-oder Hochproteindiät in Mäusen auf den Trächtigkeitsverlauf und die Entwicklung der Nachkommen F Koch1; M Langhammer2; E Wytrwat2; A Tuchscherer2; HM Hammon1; M Mielenz1; B Kuhla1; CC Metges1 1Institute of Nutritional Physiology "Oskar Kellner", Nutritional imbalances o...

Impact of a maternal supplementation of 10% inulin/FOS to a high-protein or high-fat diet during pregnancy and lactation in mice on body weight gain, glucose tolerance, mammary gland development and offspring body weight

Objective: The lactation-suckling period is critical for white adipose tissue (WAT) development. Early postnatal nutrition influences later obesity risk but underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we tested whether altered postnatal nutrition specifically during suckling impacts epigenetic regulation of key metabolic genes in WAT and alter lon...

Background: Cys is limiting for reduced glutathione (GSH) synthesis and can be synthesized from Met. We hypothesized that the dietary Met hydroxyl analogue dl-2-hydroxy-4-methylthiobutyric acid (dl-HMTBA) affects Cys and GSH metabolism and oxidative stress defense differently than Met. Objective: The objective was to elucidate whether dl-HMTBA s...

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a major regulator of protein synthesis through its main downstream effectors, ribosomal protein S6 kinase (S6K1) and eukaryotic initiation factor 4E binding protein (4EBP1). The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is considered as the main proteolytic pathway in muscle and muscle ring-finger protein 1 (MuRF...

Dysregulated skeletal muscle metabolism (DSMM) is associated with increased inter- and intramuscular fat deposition in low birth weight (L) individuals. The mechanisms behind DSMM in L individuals are not completely understood but decreased muscle mass and shifts in lipid and carbohydrate utilisation may contribute. Previously, we observed lower fa...