Investigating the mechanisms of lactulose on gut health and uric acid metabolism in geese via transcriptomics

In recent years, the escalating incidence of goose gout has inflicted severe economic losses on the goose industry. This research aimed to investigate the impact of lactulose on both intestinal health and uric acid metabolism in geese, as well as to elucidate its possible mechanisms through RNA-seq analysis. A total of 180 one-day-old Yangzhou geese were assigned to three different groups: the control group (CG), which received a standard diet; the high-protein model group (MG), which was provided a diet with 21% crude protein; and the lactulose group (LS), which had a diet containing 21% crude protein along with 0.3% lactulose. The findings indicated that the LS group exhibited significantly reduced serum uric acid levels and an intact ileal mucosal structure when compared to both the CG and MG groups. Through bioinformatics analyses of the transcriptome, including GO and KEGG enrichment analyses, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis, and trend analysis, key pathways and genes closely related to intestinal health and uric acid metabolism were identified. These key findings encompass the biological process of zinc ion import across the plasma membrane, the ABC Transporters pathway, the Wnt signaling pathway, the key uric acid transport gene ABCG2, and genes closely associated with intestinal structural integrity (KLF2, LRP6, TJP1, TJP3, PROM1). The results indicated that lactulose can effectively reduce the serum uric acid level in geese by improving intestinal morphology.