{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,12]],"date-time":"2026-01-12T10:45:40Z","timestamp":1768214740679,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,11]],"date-time":"2026-01-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768089600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003725","name":"Korea government","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["RS-2023-00280316"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2023-00280316"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003725","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study was conducted to elucidate the molecular and metabolic differences in ileal development according to birth weight in neonatal piglets. A total of 126 neonatal piglets born from Yorkshire \u00d7 Landrace \u00d7 Duroc crossbred sows were used, and the top 5% (H group, 1.77 \u00b1 0.02 kg) and bottom 5% (L group, 0.72 \u00b1 0.03 kg) of birth weights were selected for analysis. Ileal tissues were collected for transcriptomic (RNA-seq) and targeted metabolomic (GC\u2013MS) analyses, and selected genes were validated using RT-qPCR. A total of 112 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, among which RFC3, PCNA, MCM3, MCM10, AURKA, AURKB, CCNB2, CCNA2, CCNF, and SI were significantly upregulated in the H group (p &lt; 0.05). These genes were mainly involved in pathways related to DNA replication, cell division, and nutrient digestion and absorption. In addition, metabolomic analysis revealed that pyruvic acid concentrations were significantly higher in the H group (p &lt; 0.05), indicating the activation of energy metabolic pathways. These results indicate that high-birth-weight piglets possess a genetic foundation for enhanced cellular proliferation and energy metabolism, and they further highlight potential molecular targets for improving growth performance and intestinal development in low-birth-weight piglets.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani16020213","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,12]],"date-time":"2026-01-12T07:30:34Z","timestamp":1768203034000},"page":"213","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Integrated Transcriptomics and Targeted Metabolomics Approaches: Comparative Analysis of the Ileum in Neonatal Piglets with Different Birth Weight"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-9845-2765","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hyunseo","family":"Lee","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Animal Life Convergence Science, Hankyong National University, Anseong 17579, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-7300-2662","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gyuseong","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Animal Life Convergence Science, Hankyong National University, Anseong 17579, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-5284-0765","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wonvin","family":"Choi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Animal Life Convergence Science, Hankyong National University, Anseong 17579, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6950-0458","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Minju","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Animal Life Convergence Science, Hankyong National University, Anseong 17579, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Institute of Applied Humanimal Science, Hankyong National University, Anseong 17579, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"250","DOI":"10.1093\/jas\/skx041","article-title":"Excessive backfat of sows at 109 d of gestation induces lipotoxic placental environment and is associated with declining reproductive performance","volume":"96","author":"Zhou","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. 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