Effect of a Multispecies Probiotic Mixture on the Growth and Incidence of Diarrhea, Immune Function, and Fecal Microbiota of Pre-weaning Dairy Calves

Abstract

The effects of different doses of a multispecies probiotic (MSP) mixture on growth performance, the incidence of diarrhea rate and immune function, and fecal microbial diversity and structure were evaluated in pre-weaning Holstein dairy calves at WK2, WK4, WK6, and WK8. Forty Chinese Holstein female newborn calves were randomly assigned to four treatments with 10 calves in each group, C (control group), T1 (0.5 g MSP/calf/day, T2 (1 g MSP/calf/day), and T3 (2 g MSP/calf/day) groups. The experimental period was 56 days. Feed intake and health scoring were recorded every day until the end of the experiment. Fecal contents and blood samples were sampled at WK2, WK4, WK6, and WK8. Growth performance, incidence of diarrhea, and total serum concentrations (IgA, IgG, and IgM) were analyzed. Bacterial 16S rRNA and fungal ITS genes were high-throughput sequenced for fecal microbiota. The relationships among the populations of the principal fecal microbiota at WK2 and the growth performance or serum immunoglobulin concentrations were analyzed using Pearson’s rank correlation coefficients. The MSP supplementation reduced the incidence of diarrhea in the first 4 weeks of life, and serum IgA, IgG, and IgM concentrations increased between WK2 and WK8 in the T3 group. There was an increase in growth performance and reduction in the incidence of diarrhea until WK4 after birth in T3 group, compared with the control, T1, and T2 groups. The results of fecal microbiota analysis showed that Firmicutes and Bacteroides were the predominant phyla, with Blautia, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005, norank_f__Muribaculaceae, Bacteroides, Subdoligranulum, and Bifidobacterium being the dominant genera in calf feces. Aspergillus, Thermomyces, and Saccharomyces were the predominant fungal phyla. Compared with the control, in T1 and T2 groups, the MSP supplementation reduced the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes and increased the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Collinsella, and Saccharomyces at WK2 in group T3. Thus, the fecal microbial composition and diversity was significantly affected by the MSP mixture during the first 2 weeks of the calves’ life. MSP mixtures reduced the incidence of diarrhea in pre-weaning calves (during the first 4 weeks of life). There was a significant improvement in growth performance, reduction in calf diarrhea, balance in the fecal microbiota, and an overall improvement in serum immunity, compared with the control group. We, therefore, recommend adding 2 g/day of multispecies probiotic mixture supplementation in diets of dairy calves during their first 4 weeks of life before weaning.

Gut Microbial Alterations in Diarrheal Baer's Pochards (Aythya baeri)

“…The main fungal genera known to cause diarrhea are Candida, Eurotium, Cryptococcus, Mucor, Histoplasma, and Fusarium (13,14,(45)(46)(47)(48). Moreover, infection with other pathogenic microorganisms, abuse of antibiotics, or reduced immune function can disrupt the inter-constraints between normal gut resident microorganisms, resulting in fungus-associated diarrhea (49,50). Given the importance of the gut fungal community in dysbacteriosis associated diarrhea, it is crucial to learn more about its composition and structure.…”

Effects of Multispecies Probiotic on Intestinal Microbiota and Mucosal Barrier Function of Neonatal Calves Infected With E. coli K99

“…Three groups, each containing 12 calves that were randomly assigned using a random number generator (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA), were formed as follows: (i) the control group (C) fed a basal diet and not challenged with E. coli K99; (ii) the diarrhea group (D) also fed a basal diet and orally challenged with E. coli K99 (30 mL; 1 × 10 9 CFU/mL) and antibiotic support therapy (intramuscular gentamicin 20 mL/days, injection lasted for 2 days); and (iii) the MSP group (P): fed MSP every day from the next day (7.0 × 10 9 CFU/g; 2 g/calf) after orally challenged with E. coli K99 (30 mL; 1.0 × 10 9 CFU/mL). This is because the best effect was obtained with 2 g MSP per day according to a previous study of ours (Wu et al, 2021a), MSP which is in the form of a powder, was administered via milk. The basal diet (Supplementary Table 1) was free of antibiotics.…”

“…Total gut microbial genomic DNA was extracted, wherein the primer sequences as well as PCR conditions used for the amplification of bacterial and fungal DNA were in accordance with those described in a previous study of ours (Wu et al, 2021a). According to the standard protocol of Majorbio Bio-Pharm Technology Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China), paired-end sequencing was performed on the Illumina MiSeq PE300 platform/NovaSeq PE250 platform (Illumina, San Diego, United States).…”

“…Probiotics, which are considered as sustainable alternatives to antibiotics, can be used to prevent and treat diarrhea in humans and animals (Collinson et al, 2020;Dahlgren et al, 2021;Hrala et al, 2021). Many previous studies have demonstrated that supplementing calves with probiotics early in life effectively prevents diarrhea (Malmuthuge and Guan, 2017;Wu et al, 2021a). Lactobacillus acidophilus (Lépine et al, 2018), Bacillus subtilis (Sambanthamoorthy et al, 2014;Shen et al, 2017;Memon et al, 2021) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Chiaro et al, 2017;Bitla et al, 2021) has the ability to resist pathogen adhesion and enhance the intestinal barrier function (Sanchez et al, 2010;Younis et al, 2017).…”

The Probiotic VSL#3® Does Not Seem to Be Efficacious for the Treatment of Gastrointestinal Symptomatology of Patients with Fibromyalgia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

“…Additionally, the lack of sample size calculation due to the absence of published data on the primary outcome measure may have prevented us from adequately controlling the power in the current study. Finally, we did not investigate the composition of patients’ microbiota either at the beginning or the end of the trial; this would have been a worthwhile approach, since different experimental and clinical studies have shown that multi-train probiotics can improve health by modifying the gut microbiota composition [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ].…”