Probiotics or synbiotics addition to sows’ diets alters colonic microbiome composition and metabolome profiles of offspring pigs

Dietary probiotic and synbiotic supplementation starting from maternal gestation improves muscular lipid metabolism in offspring piglets by reshaping colonic microbiota and metabolites

Probiotics and synbiotics have been intensively used in animal husbandry due to their advantageous roles in animals' health. However, there is a paucity of research on probiotic and synbiotic supplementation from maternal gestation to the postnatal growing phases of offspring piglets. Thus, we assessed the effects of dietary supplementation of these two additives to sows and offspring piglets on skeletal muscle and body metabolism, colonic microbiota composition, and metabolite profiles of offspring piglets. Pregnant Bama mini-pigs and their offspring piglets (after weaning) were fed either a basal diet or a basal diet supplemented with antibiotics, probiotics, or synbiotics. At 65, 95, and 125 days old, eight pigs per group were euthanized and sampled for analyses. Probiotics increased the intramuscular fat content in the psoas major muscle (PMM) at 95 days old, polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and n-3 PUFA levels in the longissimus dorsi muscle (LDM) at 65 days old, C16:1 level in the LDM at 125 days old, and upregulated ATGL, CPT-1, and HSL expressions in the PMM at 65 days old. Synbiotics increased the plasma HDL-C level at 65 days old and TC level at 65 and 125 days old and upregulated the CPT-1 expression in the PMM at 125 days old. In addition, probiotics and synbiotics increased the plasma levels of HDL-C at 65 days old, CHE at 95 days old, and LDL-C at 125 days old, while decreasing the C18:1n9t level in the PMM at 65 days old and the plasma levels of GLU, LDH, and TG at 95 days old. Microbiome analysis showed that probiotic and synbiotic supplementation increased colonic Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Verrucomicrobia, Faecalibacterium, Pseudobutyrivibrio, and Turicibacter abundances. However, antibiotic supplementation decreased colonic Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Prevotella, and Unclassified_Lachnospiraceae abundances. Furthermore, probiotic and synbiotic supplementation was associated with alterations in 8, 7, and 10 differential metabolites at three different age stages. Both microbiome and metabolome analyses showed that the differential metabolic pathways were associated with carbohydrate, amino acid, and lipid metabolism. However, antibiotic supplementation increased the C18:1n9t level in the PMM at 65 days old and xenobiotic biodegradation and metabolism at 125 days old. In conclusion, sow-offspring's diets supplemented with these two additives showed conducive effects on meat flavor, nutritional composition of skeletal muscles, and body metabolism, which may be associated with the reshaping of colonic microbiota and metabolites. However, antibiotic supplementation has negative effects on colonic microbiota composition and fatty acid composition in the PMM.

IMPORTANCE

The integral sow-offspring probiotic and synbiotic supplementation improves the meat flavor and the fatty acid composition of the LDM to some extent. Sow-offspring probiotic and synbiotic supplementation increases the colonic beneficial bacteria (including Firmicutes, Verrucomicrobia, Actinobacteria, Faecalibacterium, Turicibacter, and Pseudobutyrivibrio) and alters the colonic metabolite profiles, such as guanidoacetic acid, beta-sitosterol, inosine, cellobiose, indole, and polyamine. Antibiotic supplementation in sow-offspring's diets decreases several beneficial bacteria (including Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Unclassified_Lachnospiraceae, and Prevotella) and has a favorable effect on improving the fatty acid composition of the LDM to some extent, while presenting the opposite effect on the PMM.

Interactions between host and gut microbiota in gestational diabetes mellitus and their impacts on offspring

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is characterized by insulin resistance and low-grade inflammation, and most studies have demonstrated gut dysbiosis in GDM pregnancies. Overall, they were manifested as a reduction in microbiome diversity and richness, depleted short chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing genera and a dominant of Gram-negative pathogens releasing lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The SCFAs functioned as energy substance or signaling molecules to interact with host locally and beyond the gut. LPS contributed to pathophysiology of diseases through activating Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and involved in inflammatory responses. The gut microbiome dysbiosis was not only closely related with GDM, it was also vital to fetal health through vertical transmission. In this review, we summarized gut microbiota signature in GDM pregnancies of each trimester, and presented a brief introduction of microbiome derived SCFAs. We then discussed mechanisms of microbiome-host interactions in the physiopathology of GDM and associated metabolic disorders. Finally, we compared offspring microbiota composition from GDM with that from normal pregnancies, and described the possible mechanism.

Dietary Bacillus spp. supplementation to both sow and progenies improved post-weaning growth rate, gut function, and reduce the pro-inflammatory cytokine production in weaners challenged with Escherichia coli K88

BACKGROUND

The use of probiotics (PRO) in late gestation sow and their impact on progenies' performance during the post-weaning stage has received more attention from the researchers recently. This study aimed to analyze the effect of probiotic mixture (Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis) on both sow and offspring's performance.

METHODS

First experiment (Exp.1) was conducted from the 100th day of gestation through to post-weaning. A total of twenty sows and their litters were assigned to one of two dietary treatments, Control (CON) based diet and PRO- CON+ 0.05% probiotic mixture. Dietary treatments were arranged in a split-plot pattern with sow and weaner treatment (CON and PRO diet) as the main and sub plot. Exp.2. E. coli challenge study was carried out two weeks after weaning with 40 piglets. Dietary treatments remained same while all pigs were orally administered with a 1.5 ml suspension of 1010 CFU of K88 strain of E. coli per ml.

RESULT

PRO group sow showed significantly decreased backfat thickness difference and body weight difference after farrowing and at the end of weaning d21. The nutrient digestibility of PRO group sows was significantly higher at the end of weaning. Moreover, piglets born from PRO group sow showed higher weaning weight and tend to increase average daily gain at the end of d21. The addition of mixed probiotic in sow and weaner diet had suppressed the production of TNF-α and interleukin-6 in E. coli challenged pigs. The phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes in E. coli -challenged pigs were highly abundant while, the relative abundance of clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 at genus level was significantly reduced by the inclusion of probiotic in both the sow and weaner diet. Also, taxonomic distribution analysis showed significantly lower prevalence of Clostridium and Brachyspira and higher prevalence of Lactobacilli in E. coli-challenged pigs that were born from PRO group sow and fed CON and PRO weaner diet.

CONCLUSION

This study reveals that the inclusion of 0.05% mixed probiotics (Bacillus spp.) to both sow and their progenies diet would be more beneficial to enhance the post-weaning growth rate, gut health, and immune status of E. coli challenged pigs.

Probiotics alleviate constipation and inflammation in late gestating and lactating sows

Constipation and systemic inflammation are common in late pregnant and lactating sows, which cause health problems like uteritis, mastitis, dystocia, or even stillbirth, further influencing piglets' survival and growth. Probiotic supplementation can improve such issues, but the beneficial mechanism of relieving constipation and enhancing gut motility remains underexplored. This study aimed to investigate the effects and mechanism of probiotic supplementation in drinking water to late pregnant sows on constipation, inflammation, and piglets' growth performance. Seventy-four sows were randomly allocated to probiotic (n = 36) and control (n = 38) groups. Probiotic treatment significantly relieved sow constipation, enhanced serum IL-4 and IL-10 levels while reducing serum IL-1β, IL-12p40, and TNF-α levels, and increased piglet daily gain and weaning weight. Furthermore, probiotic administration reshaped the sow gut bacteriome and phageome structure/diversity, accompanied by increases in some potentially beneficial bacteria. At 113 days of gestation, the probiotic group was enriched in several gut microbial bioactive metabolites, multiple carbohydrate-active enzymes that degrade pectin and starch, fecal butyrate and acetate, and some serum metabolites involved in vitamin and amino acid metabolism. Our integrated correlation network analysis revealed that the alleviation of constipation and inflammation was associated with changes in the sow gut bacteriome, phageome, bioactive metabolic potential, and metabolism.

The Effect of Maternal Probiotic or Synbiotic Supplementation on Sow and Offspring Gastrointestinal Microbiota, Health, and Performance

The increasing prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens has prompted the reduction in antibiotic and antimicrobial use in commercial pig production. This has led to increased research efforts to identify alternative dietary interventions to support the health and development of the pig. The crucial role of the GIT microbiota in animal health and performance is becoming increasingly evident. Hence, promoting an improved GIT microbiota, particularly the pioneer microbiota in the young pig, is a fundamental focus. Recent research has indicated that the sow's GIT microbiota is a significant contributor to the development of the offspring's microbiota. Thus, dietary manipulation of the sow's microbiota with probiotics or synbiotics, before farrowing and during lactation, is a compelling area of exploration. This review aims to identify the potential health benefits of maternal probiotic or synbiotic supplementation to both the sow and her offspring and to explore their possible modes of action. Finally, the results of maternal sow probiotic and synbiotic supplementation studies are collated and summarized. Maternal probiotic or synbiotic supplementation offers an effective strategy to modulate the sow's microbiota and thereby enhance the formation of a health-promoting pioneer microbiota in the offspring. In addition, this strategy can potentially reduce oxidative stress and inflammation in the sow and her offspring, enhance the immune potential of the milk, the immune system development in the offspring, and the sow's feed intake during lactation. Although many studies have used probiotics in the maternal sow diet, the most effective probiotic or probiotic blends remain unclear. To this extent, further direct comparative investigations using different probiotics are warranted to advance the current understanding in this area. Moreover, the number of investigations supplementing synbiotics in the maternal sow diet is limited and is an area where further exploration is warranted.

Fecal microbial and metabolic characteristics of swine from birth to market

Introduction

Recently, the research on pig intestinal microbiota has become a hot topic in the field of animal husbandry. There are few articles describing the dynamic changes of porcine fecal microbiota and metabolites at different time points from birth to market.

Methods

In the present study, 381 fecal samples were collected from 633 commercial pigs at 7 time points, including the 1st day, the 10th day, the 25th day, the 45th day, the 70th day, the 120th day, and the 180th day after the birth of swine, were used for microbiome analysis by Illumina MiSeq sequencing methods while 131 fecal samples from 3 time points, the 10th day, the 25th day, and 70th day after birth, were used for metabolome analysis by LC-MS methods.

Results

For the microbiome analysis, the fecal microbial richness increased over time from day 1 to 180 and the β-diversity of fecal microbiota was separated significantly at different time points. Firmicutes were the main phyla from day 10 to 180, followed by Bacteroides. The abundance of Lactobacillus increased significantly on day 120 compared with the previous 4 time points. From day 120 to day 180, the main porcine fecal microbes were Lactobacillus, Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, Terrisporobacter and Streptococcus. Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 and Terrisporobacter increased over time, while Lactobacillus, Escherichia-Shigella, Lachnoclostridium decreased with the time according to the heatmap, which showed the increase or decrease in microbial abundance over time. For the metabolome analysis, the PLS-DA plot could clearly distinguish porcine fecal metabolites on day 10, 25, and 70. The most different metabolic pathways of the 3 time points were Tryptophan metabolism, Sphingolipid signaling pathway, Protein digestion and absorption. Some metabolites increased significantly over time, such as Sucrose, L-Arginine, Indole, 2,3-Pyridinedicarboxylic acid and so on, while D-Maltose, L-2-Aminoadipic acid, 2,6-diaminohexanoic acid, L-Proline were opposite. The correlation between fecal metabolites and microbiota revealed that the microbes with an increasing trend were positively correlated with the metabolites affecting the tryptophan metabolic pathway from the overall trend, while the microbes with a decreasing trend were opposite. In addition, the microbes with an increasing trend were negatively correlated with the metabolites affecting the lysine pathway.

Discussion

In conclusion, this study elucidated the dynamic changes of porcine fecal microbiota and metabolites at different stages from birth to market, which may provide a reference for a comprehensive understanding of the intestinal health status of pigs at different growth stages.

Dietary bile acid supplementation in weaned piglets with intrauterine growth retardation improves colonic microbiota, metabolic activity, and epithelial function

BACKGROUND

Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) is one of the major constraints in animal production. Our previous study showed that piglets with IUGR are associated with abnormal bile acid (BA) metabolism. This study explored whether dietary BA supplementation could improve growth performance and colonic development, function, microbiota, and metabolites in the normal birth weight (NBW) and IUGR piglets. A total of 48 weaned piglets (24 IUGR and 24 NBW) were allocated to four groups (12 piglets per group): (i) NBW group, (ii) NBW + BA group, (iii) IUGR group, and (iv) IUGR + BA group. Samples were collected after 28 days of feeding.

RESULTS

The results showed that dietary BA supplementation increased the length and weight of the colon and colon weight to body weight ratio, while decreased the plasma diamine oxidase (DAO) concentration in the NBW piglets (P < 0.05). Dietary BA supplementation to IUGR piglets decreased (P < 0.05) the plasma concentrations of D-lactate and endotoxin and colonic DAO and endotoxin, suggesting a beneficial effect on epithelial integrity. Moreover, dietary BA supplementation to NBW and IUGR piglets increased Firmicutes abundance and decreased Bacteroidetes abundance (P < 0.05), whereas Lactobacillus was the dominant genus in the colon. Metabolome analysis revealed 65 and 51 differential metabolites in the colon of piglets fed a diet with/without BA, respectively, which was associated with the colonic function of IUGR piglets. Furthermore, dietary BA supplementation to IUGR piglets upregulated the expressions of CAT, GPX, SOD, Nrf1, IL-2, and IFN-γ in colonic mucosa (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Collectively, dietary BA supplementation could improve the colonic function of IUGR piglets, which was associated with increasing proportions of potentially beneficial bacteria and metabolites. Furthermore, BA shows a promising application prospect in improving the intestinal ecosystem and health of animals.

Gut Health and Influencing Factors in Pigs

The gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is a complex, dynamic, and critical part of the body, which plays an important role in the digestion and absorption of ingested nutrients and excreting waste products of digestion. In addition, GIT also plays a vital role in preventing the entry of harmful substances and potential pathogens into the bloodstream. The gastrointestinal tract hosts a significant number of microbes, which throughout their metabolites, directly interact with the hosts. In modern intensive animal farming, many factors can disrupt GIT functions. As dietary nutrients and biologically active substances play important roles in maintaining homeostasis and eubiosis in the GIT, this review aims to summarize the current status of our knowledge on the most important areas.