Effects of castration-associated hormonal changes on rumen microbiota, metabolism, and meat quality in Holstein cattle.
4 affiliations
- 1College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China.
- 2School of Animal Science and Technology, Ningxia University, Yinchuan, 750021, China.
- 3College of Animal Sciences and Technology, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, 271018, China.
- 4College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China. [email protected].
Abstract
Background
It remains unclear whether hormones and microorganisms affect growth performance and meat quality, and whether there is an interaction between them. In this study, nine Holstein bulls and nine Holstein steers were fed for 270 days under the same management conditions. We combined rumen microbiomics, metabolomics, and epithelial transcriptomics with serum and muscle metabolomics as well as serum hormone detection, to explore how rumen microbes and hormones jointly regulate growth performance and beef quality of Holstein cattle.Results
Compared with bull group, the Lightness (L*), Redness (a*), Yellowness (b*), intramuscular fat and marbling score were significantly increased in steer group (P < 0.05). Serum testosterone, triiodothyronine, thyroxine, growth hormone, leptin, and glucagon levels were significantly lower in steer group, which also reflected that castration inhibited final body weight (FBW), average daily gain (ADG), dry matter intake (DMI), gain feed ratio (G/F) (P < 0.05). Cellulase, pectinase, β-glucosidase, acetate, propionate and butyrate were significantly lower, while α-amylase and lipase were significantly higher in steer group (P < 0.05). The rumen metagenome indicates unclassified_o_Bacteroidales and unclassified_f_Lachnospiraceae were significantly abundant of steer and bull groups, respectively; the functions that determined beef quality were primarily in lipid and fat anabolic pathway; and the hormones and microbes had a strong correlation. Serum and muscle metabolites of steer group were involved in fatty acid metabolism, whereas bull group were primarily involved in amino acid and protein metabolism; and Lysophosphatidylethanolamines (LPE (0:0/20:3) and (20:3/0:0)) significantly influenced marbling score and intramuscular fat. The explanations of comprehensive membership value (CMV) in the rumen microbiome, rumen metabolism, serum metabolism, muscle metabolism, and rumen epithelial genes were 29.90%, 4.50%, 10.50%, 1.60%, and 0.01%.Conclusion
Castration could inhibit growth performance and improve meat quality, by mainly regulating rumen microorganisms (29.90%) and serum metabolism (10.50%); this study also provides a significant theoretical basis for analyzing the regulatory mechanisms of castration on growth performance and meat quality of cattle.
Related
- Heat tolerance in lactating Holstein dairy cows is associated with oxygen transport and mammary aerobic glucose metabolism under heat stress
- A comprehensive genetic study of the vaginal microbiota composition of Holstein cows
- Multi-Omics Analysis Reveals Hormonal, miRNA-Associated, and NLR-Linked Aphid Defense in Lycium barbarum
- A Galbonolide-producing Streptomyces reconfigures the plant root microbiota by activating salicylate-dependent defence metabolism
- Maternal gut microbiota, tryptophan metabolism and immune homeostasis: Implications for the prevention of adverse pregnancy complications
BibTeX
@article{huang2026effects,
title = {{Effects of castration-associated hormonal changes on rumen microbiota, metabolism, and meat quality in Holstein cattle.}},
author = {Yongliang Huang and Jinping Shi and Zemin Li and Yue Ma and Pengjia He and Ruixin Yang and Zhaomin Lei},
journal = {BMC microbiology},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s12866-026-05471-0},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42972501},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Effects of castration-associated hormonal changes on rumen microbiota, metabolism, and meat quality in Holstein cattle.
AU - Yongliang Huang
AU - Jinping Shi
AU - Zemin Li
AU - Yue Ma
AU - Pengjia He
AU - Ruixin Yang
AU - Zhaomin Lei
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/06
JO - BMC microbiology
DO - 10.1186/s12866-026-05471-0
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42972501
AB - Background It remains unclear whether hormones and microorganisms affect growth performance and meat quality, and whether there is an interaction between them. In this study, nine Holstein bulls and nine Holstein steers were fed for 270 days under the same management conditions. We combined rumen microbiomics, metabolomics, and epithelial transcriptomics with serum and muscle metabolomics as well as serum hormone detection, to explore how rumen microbes and hormones jointly regulate growth performance and beef quality of Holstein cattle.Results Compared with bull group, the Lightness (L*), Redness (a*), Yellowness (b*), intramuscular fat and marbling score were significantly increased in steer group (P < 0.05). Serum testosterone, triiodothyronine, thyroxine, growth hormone, leptin, and glucagon levels were significantly lower in steer group, which also reflected that castration inhibited final body weight (FBW), average daily gain (ADG), dry matter intake (DMI), gain feed ratio (G/F) (P < 0.05). Cellulase, pectinase, β-glucosidase, acetate, propionate and butyrate were significantly lower, while α-amylase and lipase were significantly higher in steer group (P < 0.05). The rumen metagenome indicates unclassified_o_Bacteroidales and unclassified_f_Lachnospiraceae were significantly abundant of steer and bull groups, respectively; the functions that determined beef quality were primarily in lipid and fat anabolic pathway; and the hormones and microbes had a strong correlation. Serum and muscle metabolites of steer group were involved in fatty acid metabolism, whereas bull group were primarily involved in amino acid and protein metabolism; and Lysophosphatidylethanolamines (LPE (0:0/20:3) and (20:3/0:0)) significantly influenced marbling score and intramuscular fat. The explanations of comprehensive membership value (CMV) in the rumen microbiome, rumen metabolism, serum metabolism, muscle metabolism, and rumen epithelial genes were 29.90%, 4.50%, 10.50%, 1.60%, and 0.01%.Conclusion Castration could inhibit growth performance and improve meat quality, by mainly regulating rumen microorganisms (29.90%) and serum metabolism (10.50%); this study also provides a significant theoretical basis for analyzing the regulatory mechanisms of castration on growth performance and meat quality of cattle.
SN - 1471-2180
ER -