Weaning is a source of social, nutritional and environmental disorders that challenge piglet health. This study assesses the relevance of using plasma indicators of oxidative status as biomarkers of health around weaning in pigs. Blood antioxidant potential (BAP), hydroperoxides (HPO), oxidative stress index (OSI, e.g. HPO/BAP), vitamin A and E concentrations were investigated in two different trials. Trial A was carried out in an experimental unit to investigate the effects of age (from 12 to 147 days of age), weaning (at 21 or 28 days of age) and management at weaning (in optimal (OC) or deteriorated (DC) conditions) on those parameters. Trial B was performed in 16 commercial pig farms to describe the variability of these indicators on field between 26 and 75 days of age. In trial A, between 12 and 147 days of age, HPO globally increased (P < 0.001), vitamin E concentration decreased (P < 0.001) whereas BAP and vitamin A concentration remained relatively stable (P > 0.1). Vitamins E and A concentrations dropped 5 days after weaning independently of weaning age, weaning conditions and expression of diarrhea (P < 0.001). Twelve days after weaning, whatever the weaning age, HPO and OSI increased in DC compared to OC piglets (P = 0.05 and P < 0.01) and in piglets exhibiting diarrhea compared to those without diarrhea (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001). In DC pigs, BAP was also decreased (P < 0.05) 12 days after weaning. On trial B, plasma concentrations of vitamins A and E decreased and HPO increased 5 and 19 days respectively after weaning (P < 0,001). Contrarily to trial A, BAP values did not drop after weaning. Piglets which had the lowest ADG (Average Daily Gain) after weaning had greater HPO and OSI and lower vitamin A and E concentrations after weaning but also lower vitamin E concentration before weaning (P < 0.05). In conclusion, HPO or OSI seem to be good indicators of health disorders around weaning and plasma concentration of vitamin E before weaning is associated to growth after weaning.
This study describes the fecal microbiota from piglets reared in different living environments during the weaning transition, and presents the characteristics of microbiota associated with good growth of piglets after weaning. Fecal samples were collected pre- (d26) and post-weaning (d35) from 288 male piglets in 16 conventional indoor commercial farms located in the West of France. The changes one week after weaning on the most abundant microbial families was roughly the same in all farms: alpha diversity increased, the relative abundance of Bacteroidaceae (-61%), Christensenellaceae (-35%), Enterobacteriaceae (-42%), and Clostridiaceae (-32%) decreased, while the relative abundance of Prevotellaceae (+143%) and Lachnospiraceae (+21%) increased. Among all the collected samples, four enterotypes that were ubiquitous in all farms were identified. They could be discriminated by their respective relative abundances of Prevotella, Faecalibacterium, Roseburia, and Lachnospira, and likely corresponded to a gradual maturational shift from pre- to post-weaning microbiota. The rearing environment influenced the frequency of enterotypes, as well as the relative abundance of 6 families at d26 (including Christensenellaceae and Lactobacillaceae), and of 21 families at d35. In all farms, piglets showing the highest relative growth rate during the first three weeks after weaning, which were characterized as more robust, had a higher relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, a lower relative abundance of Proteobacteria, and showed a greater increase in Prevotella, Coprococcus, and Lachnospira in the post-weaning period. This study revealed the presence of ubiquitous enterotypes among the farms of this study, reflecting maturational stages of microbiota from a young suckling to an older cereal-eating profile. Despite significant variation in the microbial profile between farms, piglets whose growth after weaning was less disrupted were, those who had reached the more mature phenotype characterized by Prevotella the fastest.
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