Differences in Lipid Metabolism between the Perirenal Adipose Tissue of Chinese Simmental Cattle and Angus Cattle (Bos taurus) Based on Metabolomics Analysis

The aim of this experiment was to investigate the differences in metabolites in perirenal fat (PF) between Chinese Simmental cattle and Angus cattle. Six healthy 18-month-old male Angus cattle and Chinese Simmental cattle were selected, and the perirenal adipose tissue was collected after slaughtering. HE staining, a triglyceride assay kit, and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) technology were used to compare and analyze the differences in the cell morphology, lipid accumulation, and metabolites of the two types of PF. The results showed that the PF of Angus cattle had a larger cell area and stronger lipid deposition ability than that of Simmental cattle. A total of 567 metabolites were detected by LC-MS/MS technology, of which 119 were significantly upregulated in Angus cattle PF and 129 were significantly upregulated in Simmental cattle PF. Differential metabolites were enriched in pathways such as fatty acid biosynthesis, polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis, regulation of adipocyte lipolysis, and oxidative phosphorylation. Finally, 12 metabolites that may cause phenotypic differences between the two types of perirenal adipose tissue were screened out from these pathways. This study has preliminarily screened out biomarkers that may affect lipid metabolism in PF, providing basic data for the further exploration of the metabolic characteristics of PF.