Dietary fibers with low hydration properties exacerbate diarrhea and impair intestinal health and nutrient digestibility in weaned piglets

Abstract

Background This study aimed to investigate the hydration properties of different-source fibrous materials by comparing their water-binding capacity (WBC), water swelling capacity (WSC), viscosity, and in vivo effects of selected samples on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, diarrhea, and intestinal health in weaned piglets. Methods A total of 13 commercially available fibrous materials were first compared in chemical composition and in vitro hydration property. Subsequently, 40 weaned piglets were randomized to five experimental dietary groups (8 piglets per group): control diet (a basal diet without dietary fiber, CON), basal diet supplemented with 5% microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), 5% wheat bran (WB), 5% Moringaoleifera leaf powder (MOLP), or 5% sugar beet pulp (SBP), followed by analyzing their growth performance and diarrhea rate in a 28-d experiment. After the feeding experiment, anaesthetized piglets were killed, and their intestinal and colon content or plasma samples were analyzed in nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology, intestinal barrier, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and bacterial population. Results In vitro studies showed low hydration properties for WB and MCC, while medium hydration properties for MOLP and SBP. In vivo studies indicated that compared with medium hydration property groups, low hydration property groups showed (1) exacerbated diarrhea, impaired intestinal health, and reduced apparent fecal digestibility of dry matter, gross energy, acid detergent fiber, and neutral detergent fiber; (2) decreased SCFAs concentration and relative levels of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, but increased levels of Escherichia coli and Brachyspira hyodysenteriae in colon contents. Additionally, SBP showed optimal performance in reducing diarrhea and increasing SCFAs production. Correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation of fiber hydration properties with in vitro SCFAs production, and diarrhea index and nutrient digestibility were negatively and positively correlated with SCFAs levels in the colon contents of weaned piglets, respectively. Conclusions Different-source dietary fibers varied in their hydration properties and impacts on diarrhea, microbial composition and SCFAs production in weaned piglets. WB and MCC could exacerbate diarrhea and impair nutrient digestibility, probably because their low hydration properties were detrimental to gut microbial homeostasis and fermentation. Our findings provide new ideas for rational use of fiber resources in weaned piglets.

Resveratrol alleviates oxidative stress induced by oxidized soybean oil and improves gut function via changing gut microbiota in weaned piglets

“…Piglets with a index > 3 diarrhea between d 1 to 28 were identified as having diarrhea. Diarrhea index = sum of diarrhea index of each group of piglets during the test period/(number of test days × number of piglets per group) [30]. At the end of the experiment (d 24 to 27), all fresh feces without urine pollution were collected twice a day at 8:00 and 20:00, and other impurities were picked out, packed into plastic sealing bags, weighed and recorded [31].…”

Dietary Fiber-Derived Butyrate Alleviates Piglet Weaning Stress by Modulating the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB Pathway

“…The present study showed that both the BP and AM groups significantly reduced the diarrhea rate. The addition of BP reduced the diarrhea rate in piglets, which may be due to the hydration properties of BP that are suitable for the fermentation of SCFAs [ 10 ]. However, the results of studies on the effect of BP groups on the diarrhea rate are inconsistent, with some studies showing no effect of BP on the diarrhea rate [ 8 , 9 ].…”

“…Nutritional modification is used as one of the effective tactics to improve the health and growth of weaned piglets [ 5 ], and the use of specific dietary ingredients, such as dietary fiber (DF), has been widely investigated as a way to prevent and treat diseases by modulating the gut microbiota [ 6 ]. According to its physical and chemical properties, DF can be divided into soluble dietary fiber (SDF) and insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) [ 7 ], in which beet pulp (BP), composed of SDF, such as pectin and dextran [ 8 ], has been widely used in studies on weaned piglets [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Alfalfa meal (AM) is a slowly fermentable IDF composed of cellulose and lignin [ 11 ].…”

Maternal or post-weaning dietary fructo-oligosaccharide supplementation reduces stillbirth rate of sows and diarrhea of weaned piglets

“…Diarrhea rate (%) = [total number of diarrhea in each group/(experiment days × number of piglets in each group)] × 100. Diarrhea index (%) = [diarrhea score sum of each group/(experiment days × number of piglets in each group)] × 100 ( Huang et al., 2022 ).…”