Effects of Dietary Net Energy Concentration on Reproductive Performance, Immune Function, Milk Composition, and Gut Microbiota in Primiparous Lactating Sows

This study aimed to determine the optimal dietary net energy concentration for the reproductive performance, immune function, milk composition, and gut microbiota of primiparous sows during lactation. Forty primiparous lactating sows (Landrace × Yorkshire) with similar body backfat thicknesses were randomly allocated into five treatment groups and fed diets with different dietary net energy concentrations of 10.05 MJ/kg, 10.47 MJ/kg, 10.89 MJ/kg, 11.30 MJ/kg, and 11.72 MJ/kg. The results showed that there were no differences in the performance of piglets, while there was a decrease in the daily feed intake of sows (<i>p</i> = 0.079, linear) as dietary net energy concentration increased. With the increasing dietary net energy concentration, the plasma insulin levels of sows increased (<i>p</i> < 0.01, linear), the plasma glucose levels tended to increase (<i>p</i> = 0.074, linear), and the blood urea nitrogen levels tended to decrease (<i>p</i> = 0.063, linear). Moreover, the plasma total superoxide dismutase activity of sows increased (<i>p</i> < 0.05, quadratic) and the plasma malondialdehyde content of sows decreased (<i>p</i> < 0.05, quadratic) by increasing the dietary net energy concentration. Interestingly, with the increase in dietary net energy concentration, the plasma immunoglobulin M content of sows increased, the milk immunoglobulin M, immunoglobulin G, immunoglobulin A and the percentage of milk fat increased (<i>p</i> < 0.05, linear), and the milk secretory immunoglobulin A content also increased (<i>p</i> < 0.05, linear and quadratic). The milk immunoglobulins and milk fat content of sows fed with net energy concentration of 11.72 MJ/kg were highest. Moreover, there were significant differences in the α-diversity, β-diversity, and relative abundance of gut microbiota in sows fed with different dietary net energy concentrations. At the phylum level, <i>Spirochaetota</i> and <i>Bacteroidota</i> in the gut microbiota of sows were mainly affected by increasing the dietary net energy concentration. Furthermore, the correlation analysis showed that milk immunoglobulin content had a significant negative correlation with the relative abundance of <i>Bacteroidota</i>, and plasma malondialdehyde content also had a significant negative correlation with the relative abundance of <i>Spirochaetota</i>. In summary, these results suggest that increasing the dietary net energy concentration to 11.72 MJ/kg can increase immunological substances in milk, improve milk quality, and alter the composition of gut microbiota in primiparous lactating sows.