Evaluation of Megasphaera elsdenii supplementation on rumen fermentation, production performance, carcass traits and health of ruminants: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the use of <i>Megasphaera elsdenii</i> (<i>M. elsdenii</i>) as a probiotic on rumen fermentation, production performance, carcass traits and health of ruminants by integrating data from various related studies using meta-analysis.Methods: A total of 32 studies (consisted of 136 data points) were obtained and integrated into a database. The parameters integrated were fermentation products, rumen microbes, production performance, carcass quality, animal health, blood and urine metabolites. Statistical analysis of the compiled database used a mixed model methodology. Different studies were considered random effects, while <i>M. elsdenii</i> supplementation doses were considered fixed effects. p-values and the Akaike information criterion were employed as model statistics. The model was deemed significant at p<0.05 or had a tendency to be significant when p-value between 0.05〈p〈0.10.Results: Supplementation with <i>M. elsdenii</i> increased (p<0.05) some proportion of fermented rumen products such as propionate, butyrate, isobutyrate, and valerate, and significantly reduced (p<0.05) lactic acid concentration, acetate proportion, total bacterial population and methane emission. Furthermore, the probiotic supplementation enhanced (p<0.05) livestock production performance, especially in the average daily gain and body condition score. Regarding the carcass quality, hot carcass weight and carcass gain were elevated (p<0.05) due to the <i>M. elsdenii</i> supplementation. Animal health also showed improvement as indicated by the lower (p<0.05) diarrhoea and bloat incidences as well as the liver abscess. However, <i>M. elsdenii</i> supplementation had negligible effects on blood and urine metabolites of ruminants.Conclusion: Supplementation of <i>M. elsdenii</i> is capable of decreasing ruminal lactic acid concentration, enhancing rumen health, elevating some favourable rumen fermentation products, and in turn, increasing production performance of ruminants.