The research explored the effect of dietary rumen-protected betaine (RPB) supplementation on development and function of ileum in Tibetan sheep. Sixty male lambs (17.72 ± 0.19 kg, aged 2 months) were randomly divided into control group (Ctrl) and RPB group (0.08% Bet). The adaptation feeding period was 10 days, and the experimental period was 90 days. Results suggested that dietary RPB significantly increased villus height, villus height-to-crypt depth (VH/CD) ratio, total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) (P 0.5). To sum up, our results suggest that the dietary RPB supplementation could affect the ileal SCFA concentration by modulating the microbial community and regulating metabolism, thereby contributing to ileal development and barrier function. This study offers new evidence supporting the use of RPB as a potential application for Tibetan sheep.
Gao et al. (Wed,) studied this question.