Antiprotozoal effect of saponins in the rumen can be enhanced by chemical modifications in their structure
Open accessAbstract
The antiprotozoal effect of saponins is transitory, as when saponins are deglycosylated to the sapogenin by rumen microorganisms they become inactive. We postulated that the substitution of the sugar moiety of the saponin with small polar residues would produce sapogen-like analogues which might be resistant to degradation in the rumen as they would not be enzymatically cleaved, allowing the antiprotozoal effect to persist over time. In this study we used an acute assay based on the ability of protozoa to break down [14C] leucine-labelled Streptococcus bovis and a longer term assay based on protozoal motility over 24 h to evaluate both the antiprotozoal effect and the stability of this effect with fifteen hederagenin bis-esters esterified with two identical groups, and five cholesterol and cholic acid based derivatives carrying one to three succinate residues. The acute antiprotozoal effect of hederagenin derivatives was more pronounced than that of cholesterol and cholic acid derivatives. Modifications in the structure of hederagenin, cholesterol, and cholic acid derivatives resulted in compounds with different biological activities in terms of acute effect and stability, although those which were highly toxic to protozoa were not always the most stable over time. Most of the hederagenin bis-esters, and in particular hederagenin bis-sucinate (TSB24), hederagenin bis-betainate dichloride (TSB37) and hederagenin bis-adipate (TSB47) had a persistent effect against rumen protozoa in vitro, shifting the fermentation pattern towards higher propionate and lower butyrate. These chemically modified triterpenes could potentially be used in ruminant diets as an effective defaunation agent to, ultimately, increase nitrogen utilization, decrease methane emissions, and enhance animal production. Further trials in vivo or in long term rumen simulators are now needed to confirm the in vitro observations presented.
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Hederagenin bis-succinate obtained by hydrolysis of ivy fruit extract shifts fermentation toward propionate, attributed to structural modifications that mediated the diversity of bacterial communities.
“Hederagenin bis-succinate (HBS) obtained by hydrolysis of ivy fruit extract has shown to shift fermentation toward propionate, attributed to its structural modifications that mediated the diversity of bacterial communities (167).”
From Phytogenic Additives Can Modulate Rumen Microbiome to Mediate Fermentation Kinetics and Methanogenesis Through Exploiting Diet–Microbe Interaction (2020) · cites this paper as [167]
The Methods describe hydrolyzing ivy fruit extract to obtain hederagenin, then synthesizing its bis-ester derivatives. Results Table 5 shows that hederagenin bis-succinate increased propionate's share of total volatile fatty acids after 24 hours of in vitro incubation. The paper does not establish that a change in bacterial-community diversity mediated this shift; the Discussion only suggests that other microorganisms may also have been affected. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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References 28 · Cited by 41
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Dehority B. A. (1993). Laboratory Manual for Classification and Morphology of Ruminal Ciliate Protozoa. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
- Authors
- Ramos-Morales, E., de la Fuente, G., Duval, S., Wehrli, C., Bouillon, M., Lahmann, M., Preskett, D., Braganca, R., & Newbold, C. J.
- Affiliations
- Bangor University (GB)
- Aberystwyth University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Newbold, Charles J.
- Venue
- Frontiers in Microbiology
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2017-03-16
- Volume
- 08
- Pages
- 399-399
- ISSN
- 1664-302X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5361656
- OpenAlex
- W2597308899
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 3.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Frontiers in Microbiology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- RECERCAT (Consorci de Serveis Universitaris de Catalunya) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Repositori ObertUDL (University of Lleida) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Bangor University Research Portal (Bangor University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Innovate UK (“Ivy for ruminants” Ref: 101091)
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (grant number BB/J0013/1)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Natural product bioactivities and synthesis
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Helminth infection and control
- Keywords
- saponins, antiprotozoal activity, rumen protozoa, defaunation, ruminant feed additives, nitrogen utilization, methane emissions, cholesterol derivatives, cholic acid derivatives, triterpenoids
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