Bacillus subtilis QST 713 Supplementation during Late Gestation in Gilts Reduces Stillbirth and Increases Piglet Birth Weight

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that probiotic supplementation during late gestation exerts some beneficial effects on reproductive performance of the sows. This study aimed to investigate effects of Bacillus subtilis QST 713 supplementation in gilts on different reproductive criteria. A total of 94 Camborough-48 gilts at day 85 of gestation were randomly allocated into 2 groups: (1) control diet; (2) control diet + 4 × 108 CFU Bacillus subtilis QST 713 per day. Gilts were supplemented until farrowing. At farrowing, litter size, number of piglets born alive, stillbirths, mummies, birth weight, farrowing duration, and birth interval were recorded. Within litter variation of piglet birth weight, depicted as SDBW and CVBW, was also calculated. Results showed that Bacillus subtilis QST 713 supplementation decreased stillbirth rate (1.26 vs. 4.37%, p = 0.035 ) and increased birth weight of the piglets (1303.94 vs. 1234.09 g, p = 0.007 ). Also, the litter size (11.85 vs. 10.67, p = 0.03 ), number of piglets born alive (11.71 vs. 10.23, p = 0.008 ), and litter weight (15473.06 vs. 13174.86 g, p = 0.002 ) in the treatment group were higher than those in the control. Farrowing duration (174.39 vs. 160.81 minutes, p = 0.162 ), birth interval (16.32 vs. 16.59 minutes, p = 0.674 ), SDBW (85.07 vs. 94.65 g, p = 0.343 ), and CVBW (6.42 vs. 7.85, p = 0.12 ) were independent of the Bacillus subtilis QST 713 supplementation. Results of the present study indicate that supplementation of Bacillus subtilis QST 713 during late gestation in gilts reduces stillbirth and increases birth weight thereby improving their reproductive performance.

Effects of Bacillus subtilis supplementation on reproductive parameters during late gestation in multiparous sowsgestation in multiparous sows

“…In the present study, the insignificant effect of probiotic on the number of total born and the number of born alive is corroborated by those found in several previous studies [12,[29][30][31][32]. In contrast, some authors found that the number of total born and the number of born alive in the probiotic groups were higher than those in the untreated groups [17][18][19][20]28]. It is clear that probiotic supplementation during late gestation did not have any effects on the number of total born since this parameter was already fixed before probiotic use.…”

“…All previous studies that did not observe a decrease in the stillbirth rate did not observe an increase in birth weight in the treatment group. However, the only study that found a decreased stillbirth rate also found an increased birth weight in the treatment group [28].…”

“…Although probiotic supplementation did not significantly increase the number of live births, it decreased the rates of stillbirth and dead birth. A previous study by Nam et al [28] found that treatment with the same probiotic during late gestation in gilts decreased the stillbirth rate. In contrast, other authors have reported similar stillbirth rates between treatment and control groups [20,22,29,[33][34][35].…”

“…Bacillus subtilis QST 713 is low toxic to animals and has been used to control necrotic enteritis in broilers [26] and to cope with dysbiosis in piglets [27]. This probiotic has been reported to increase the number of born alive, birth weight, and decrease the stillbirth rate of piglets when supplemented during late gestation in gilts [28].…”

Placental TLR recognition of salivary and subgingival microbiota is associated with pregnancy complications

“…While it is possible that this is an artifact of the database, evidence is emerging from recent studies that this organism is a normal commensal of the human gastrointestinal tract [ 38 ]. Moreover, prebiotic supplementation with this organism in late gestation has been shown to exert beneficial reproductive outcomes in animals [ 39 , 40 ]. While we do not have data about prebiotic usage in our subjects, these lines of evidence might suggest that B. subitis is not necessarily an artifact, but that probiotics for human reproductive health are a promising line of investigation.…”