Metabonomic Responses of Grazing Yak to Different Concentrate Supplementations in Cold Season

Supplementation plays an important role in reversing the weight loss of grazing yaks during cold season. However, little is known about the effect of supplementation on the serum metabolites of grazing yaks. The objective of this study was to explore the effects of supplementary feeding on average daily gain (ADG) and serum metabolites with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics method in growing yaks during cold season on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. Twenty 1.5-year-old female yaks (91.38 ± 10.43 kg LW) were evenly divided into three treatment groups and a control group (CON) (n = 5 per group). All the yaks were released to graze during daytime, whereas the yaks in the treatment groups were supplemented with highland barley (HLB), rapeseed meal (RSM), and highland barley plus rapeseed meal (HLB + RSM) at night. The whole experiment lasted for 120 days. Results indicated that the ADG of growing yak heifers was increased by concentrate supplementations, and ADG under HLB and HLB + RSM group was 37.5% higher (p < 0.05) than that with RSM supplementation. Supplementary feeding increased the plasma concentrations of total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) of those in the CON group, and concentrations of BUN were higher in the RSM group than in the HLB and HLB + RSM group. Compared with the CON group, serum levels of glutamine, glycine, β-glucose were lower and that of choline was higher in the HLB group; serum levels of lactate were lower and that of choline, glutamate were higher in the HLB + RSM group. Compared with the HLB + RSM group, serum levels of glycerophosphoryl choline (GPC) and lactate were higher, and those of choline, glutamine, glutamate, leucine, N-acetyaspartate, α-glucose, and β-glucose were lower in the HLB group; serum levels of citrate, GPC and lactate were higher, and those of 3-Hydroxybutyrate, betaine, choline, glutamate, glutamine, N-acetylglycoprotein, N-acetyaspartate, α-glucose, and β-glucose were lower in the RSM group. It could be concluded that concentrate supplementations significantly improved the growth performance of growing yaks and supplementation with HBL or HLB plus RSM was better than RSM during the cold season. Supplementation with HBL or HLB plus RSM affected the serum metabolites of grazing yaks, and both treatments promoted lipid synthesis. Supplementation of yaks with HBL plus RSM could improve energy-supply efficiency, protein and lipid deposition compared with HLB and RSM.