Effect of feeding genetically modified Bt MON810 maize to ∼40-day-old pigs for 110 days on growth and health indicators

Forty eight individual pigs (8.7±0.26 kg) weaned at 28±1 d of age were used in a 22-d study to evaluate the effect of oral administration of a Bacillus pumilus spore suspension on growth performance and health indicators. Treatments (n = 16) were: (1) non-medicated diet; (2) medicated diet with apramycin (200 mg/kg) and pharmacological levels of zinc oxide (2,500 mg zinc/kg) and (3) B. pumilus diet (non-medicated diet + 1010 spores/day B. pumilus). Final body weight and average daily gain tended to be lower (P = 0.07) and feed conversion ratio was worsened (P<0.05) for the medicated treatment compared to the B. pumilus treatment. Ileal E. coli counts were lower for the B. pumilus and medicated treatments compared to the non-medicated treatment (P<0.05), perhaps as a result of increased ileal propionic acid concentrations (P<0.001). However, the medicated treatment reduced fecal (P<0.001) and cecal (P<0.05) Lactobacillus counts and tended to reduce the total cecal short chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentration (P = 0.10). Liver weights were lighter and concentrations of liver enzymes higher (P<0.05) in pigs on the medicated treatment compared to those on the non-medicated or B. pumilus treatments. Pigs on the B. pumilus treatment had lower overall lymphocyte and higher granulocyte percentages (P<0.001) and higher numbers of jejunal goblet cells (P<0.01) than pigs on either of the other two treatments or the non-medicated treatment, respectively. However, histopathological examination of the small intestine, kidneys and liver revealed no abnormalities. Overall, the B. pumilus treatment decreased ileal E. coli counts in a manner similar to the medicated treatment but without the adverse effects on growth performance, Lactobacillus counts, cecal SCFA concentration and possible liver toxicity experienced with the medicated treatment.

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“…Serum samples were analysed using an ABX Pentra 400 Clinical Chemistry Analyser (Horiba ABX, Northampton, UK), as outlined previously [21].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of a Marine-Derived Bacillus Strain for Use as an In-Feed Probiotic for Newly Weaned Pigs

et al. 2014

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“…Several review papers that summarize the results of long-term and multigenerational feeding studies in a variety of species have been published recently [2,14-16]. The duration of published long-term feeding studies using a GE-based diet ranged from 110 d [17-19] to 728 d [20]. The longest multigenerational study involved ten generations of quail fed up to 50% GE corn [21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High-throughput “-omics” – transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics - methods have been suggested as a nontargeted approach to detect unintended effects in GE plants. Long-term studies included rats [20,30-32], mice [33-37], salmon [38,39], beef cattle [40], dairy cows [41], macaques [42], pigs [19], and quail [43]. Multigenerational studies included rats [44-48], mice [49-53], pigs [54-56], bulls [56], dairy cows [56], goats [57], sheep [56,58], broilers [56,59], laying hens [56,60], and quail [21,61].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

GMOs in animal agriculture: time to consider both costs and benefits in regulatory evaluations

Eenennaam

2013

J Animal Sci Biotechnol

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In 2012, genetically engineered (GE) crops were grown by 17.3 million farmers on over 170 million hectares. Over 70% of harvested GE biomass is fed to food producing animals, making them the major consumers of GE crops for the past 15 plus years. Prior to commercialization, GE crops go through an extensive regulatory evaluation. Over one hundred regulatory submissions have shown compositional equivalence, and comparable levels of safety, between GE crops and their conventional counterparts. One component of regulatory compliance is whole GE food/feed animal feeding studies. Both regulatory studies and independent peer-reviewed studies have shown that GE crops can be safely used in animal feed, and rDNA fragments have never been detected in products (e.g. milk, meat, eggs) derived from animals that consumed GE feed. Despite the fact that the scientific weight of evidence from these hundreds of studies have not revealed unique risks associated with GE feed, some groups are calling for more animal feeding studies, including long-term rodent studies and studies in target livestock species for the approval of GE crops. It is an opportune time to review the results of such studies as have been done to date to evaluate the value of the additional information obtained. Requiring long-term and target animal feeding studies would sharply increase regulatory compliance costs and prolong the regulatory process associated with the commercialization of GE crops. Such costs may impede the development of feed crops with enhanced nutritional characteristics and durability, particularly in the local varieties in small and poor developing countries. More generally it is time for regulatory evaluations to more explicitly consider both the reasonable and unique risks and benefits associated with the use of both GE plants and animals in agricultural systems, and weigh them against those associated with existing systems, and those of regulatory inaction. This would represent a shift away from a GE evaluation process that currently focuses only on risk assessment and identifying ever diminishing marginal hazards, to a regulatory approach that more objectively evaluates and communicates the likely impact of approving a new GE plant or animal on agricultural production systems.

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“…Numerous studies have investigated the effects of Bt maize consumption on production and health characteristics in different animal species (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10); however, apart from those conducted by our group, few studies have been performed in pigs. Furthermore, while a number of studies have investigated the effects of Bt maize on the intestinal microbiota of ruminants (6,11,12), our group was the first to examine its impact on the porcine intestinal microbiota (13,14).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sequence-Based Analysis of the Intestinal Microbiota of Sows and Their Offspring Fed Genetically Modified Maize Expressing a Truncated Form of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab Protein (Bt Maize)

Buzoianu

Walsh

Rea

et al. 2013

Appl Environ Microbiol

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eThe aim was to investigate transgenerational effects of feeding genetically modified (GM) maize expressing a truncated form of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab protein (Bt maize) to sows and their offspring on maternal and offspring intestinal microbiota. Sows were assigned to either non-GM or GM maize dietary treatments during gestation and lactation. At weaning, offspring were assigned within sow treatment to non-GM or GM maize diets for 115 days, as follows: (i) non-GM maize-fed sow/non-GM maize-fed offspring (non-GM/non-GM), (ii) non-GM maize-fed sow/GM maize-fed offspring (non-GM/GM), (iii) GM maize-fed sow/non-GM maize-fed offspring (GM/non-GM), and (iv) GM maize-fed sow/GM maize-fed offspring (GM/GM). Offspring of GM maize-fed sows had higher counts of fecal total anaerobes and Enterobacteriaceae at days 70 and 100 postweaning, respectively. At day 115 postweaning, GM/non-GM offspring had lower ileal Enterobacteriaceae counts than non-GM/non-GM or GM/GM offspring and lower ileal total anaerobes than pigs on the other treatments. GM maize-fed offspring also had higher ileal total anaerobe counts than non-GM maize-fed offspring, and cecal total anaerobes were lower in non-GM/GM and GM/ non-GM offspring than in those from the non-GM/non-GM treatment. The only differences observed for major bacterial phyla using 16S rRNA gene sequencing were that fecal Proteobacteria were less abundant in GM maize-fed sows prior to farrowing and in offspring at weaning, with fecal Firmicutes more abundant in offspring. While other differences occurred, they were not observed consistently in offspring, were mostly encountered for low-abundance, low-frequency bacterial taxa, and were not associated with pathology. Therefore, their biological relevance is questionable. This confirms the lack of adverse effects of GM maize on the intestinal microbiota of pigs, even following transgenerational consumption.

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Effect of feeding genetically modified Bt MON810 maize to ∼40-day-old pigs for 110 days on growth and health indicators

Cited by 30 publications

References 36 publications

Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of a Marine-Derived Bacillus Strain for Use as an In-Feed Probiotic for Newly Weaned Pigs

Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of a Marine-Derived Bacillus Strain for Use as an In-Feed Probiotic for Newly Weaned Pigs

GMOs in animal agriculture: time to consider both costs and benefits in regulatory evaluations

Sequence-Based Analysis of the Intestinal Microbiota of Sows and Their Offspring Fed Genetically Modified Maize Expressing a Truncated Form of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab Protein (Bt Maize)

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