High-fertility sows reshape gut microbiota: the rise of serotonin-related bacteria and its impact on sustaining reproductive performanceOriginal paper
Karen Pendergrass is a microbiome researcher specializing in microbiome-targeted interventions (MBTIs). She systematically analyzes scientific literature to identify microbial patterns, develop hypotheses, and validate interventions. As the founder of the Microbiome Signatures Database, she bridges microbiome research with clinical practice. In 2012, based on her own investigative research, she became the first documented case of FMT for Celiac Disease, four years before the first published case study.
Read MoreWhat was studied?
Researchers compared gut microbiota and serum metabolites in Jinhua sows with high versus low reproductive performance, all raised under identical diet and management. From 120 sows screened, 62 were split into high (HRP) and low (LRP) reproductive performance groups for 16S rRNA sequencing, with subsets used for metagenomics and serum metabolomics.
How was it studied?
The team used 16S rRNA gene sequencing, shotgun metagenomics, and untargeted serum metabolomics (LC-MS), then integrated the datasets with multi-omics correlation and random forest analysis. Healthy piglets per litter averaged 12.93 in the HRP group versus 8.16 in the LRP group.
What did they find?
HRP sows showed enrichment of KEGG pathways for base excision repair, DNA replication, and spore formation genes, all positively correlated with litter size, suggesting the gut microbiome was under host-driven stress. HRP sows also had enriched serotonin-associated bacteria, including Oxalobacter formigenes, Ruminococcus sp. CAG 382, Clostridium leptum, and Clostridium botulinum, alongside significantly higher serum serotonin (random forest ROC AUC of 1).
Why it matters
Serotonin is known to regulate ovarian follicle survival and oocyte maturation, and its levels correlated positively with litter size and healthy piglets per litter in this study. The findings suggest host reproductive stress reshapes gut microbiota toward serotonin-producing taxa, offering a potential microbiome-based route to improving sow fertility.