{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,10]],"date-time":"2026-10-10T14:44:45Z","timestamp":1791643485759,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,15]],"date-time":"2025-08-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1755216000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Vet. Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Within-litter variations in birth weight (BW) influence piglet postnatal growth and survival rate. The present study investigated the effects of the valine metabolite 3-hydroxyisobutyric acid (3-HIB) on the birth weight of piglets by supplementing the sow diet with 3-HIB during late pregnancy. Forty sows were assigned randomly to the control (Con) group and 3-HIB supplementation groups (15\u202fmg\/kg body weight), with 20 sows per group. The experiment was conducted from day 85 of pregnancy until farrowing. 3-HIB supplementation significantly decreased the number of piglets with body weight &amp;lt; 1\u202fkg, litter weight variation, and stillbirth number (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05) but had no significant effect on the organ index of newborn piglets. Compared to the control group, 3-HIB supplementation significantly increased the concentration of triglycerides in the placental tissue of sows (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05). The levels of total monounsaturated fatty acids and partial polyunsaturated fatty acids (C20:4 n-6, C20:5 n-3, and C22:6) in the plasma of piglets were significantly higher in the 3-HIB supplementation group than in the control group (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05). The results of lipid metabolism-related protein expression indicated that compared to the control group, the 3-HIB group significantly increased the expression of lipid transport-related proteins (solute carrier family 27a (SLC27A1) and fatty acid binding protein 3 [FABP3]) in the placenta of sows and fatty acid oxidation protein (carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 [CPT-1]) in the muscle of piglets (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05). In conclusion, adding 3-HIB to the sow diet enhances piglet energy supply by promoting maternal-to-fetal fatty acid transport and fatty acid oxidation in piglet muscles, ultimately reducing within-litter body weight variation in newborn piglets.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fvets.2025.1646332","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,15]],"date-time":"2025-08-15T16:10:51Z","timestamp":1755274251000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Reduction in within-litter variation of piglet birth weight through dietary supplementation of 3-hydroxyisobutyric acid in sows"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Long","family":"Che","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lizhu","family":"Niu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Le","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mengyun","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wenying","family":"Huo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hongyu","family":"Deng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wen","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lifeng","family":"Pang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mengmeng","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"797","DOI":"10.1017\/S1751731111002242","article-title":"Effects 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