Bingqing Han

Although low-protein diets can improve the nitrogen utilization efficiency and alleviate economic pressures in ruminants, they may also negatively impact dairy performance. Rumen-protected lysine (RPL) supplementation can improve the health status and growth performance of ruminants without compromising nitrogen utilization efficiency and feed intake. In this study, a total of thirty-three multiparous dairy goats in the late-lactation period were randomly divided into three groups that were separately fed the control diet (namely the protein-adequacy group), the low-protein diet (namely the protein-deficient group), and the RPL-supplemented protein-deficient diet (namely RPL-supplementation group) for five weeks. Here, we investigated the molecular mechanisms regarding how low-protein diets with RPL supplementation compromise lactation phenotypes in dairy goats through cross-tissue transcriptomic analyses. Dietary protein deficiency caused an imbalance in amino acid (AA) intake, disrupted hepatic function, and impaired milk synthesis. Transcriptomic analyses further showed that RPL supplementation exhibited some beneficial effects, like mitigating abnormal lipid and energy metabolism in the liver, elevating hepatic resistance to oxidative stress, improving the mammary absorption of AAs, as well as activating mammary lipid and protein anabolism primarily through peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) and janus kinase-signal transducer (JAK)—signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signaling, respectively. RPL supplementation of a low-protein diet contributes to maintaining late lactation in dairy goats primarily through mitigating hepatic energy disturbances and activating both lipid and protein metabolism in the mammary glands. Since RPL supplementation initiated a series of comprised events on mammary protein and lipid metabolism as well as the hepatic function and energy generation in dairy goats under protein deficiency during late lactation, these findings thus provide some insights into how RPL supplementation helps maintain milk production and health in dairy mammals especially at late lactation.