A molecular insight into the lipid changes of pig Longissimus thoracis muscle following dietary supplementation with functional ingredients

Abstract

In this work, the Longissimus thoracis pig skeletal muscle was used as a model to investigate the impact of two different diets, supplemented with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids from extruded linseed (L) and polyphenols from grape skin and oregano extracts (L+P), on the lipidomic profile of meat. A standard diet for growing-finishing pigs (CTRL) was used as a control. Changes in lipids profile were investigated through an untargeted lipidomics and transcriptomics combined investigation. The lipidomics identified 1507 compounds, with 195 compounds fitting with the MS/MS spectra of LipidBlast database. When compared with the CTRL group, the L+P diet significantly increased 15 glycerophospholipids and 8 sphingolipids, while the L diet determined a marked up-accumulation of glycerolipids. According to the correlations outlined between discriminant lipids and genes, the L diet may act preventing adipogenesis and the related inflammation processes, while the L+P diet promoted the expression of genes involved in lipids’ biosynthesis and adipogenic extracellular matrix formation and functioning.