Effect of Lactobacillus plantarum CJLP243 on the growth performance and cytokine response of weaning pigs challenged with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli1

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of diets containing Lactobacillus plantarum CJLP243 on the growth and cytokine response of weaning pigs (Sus scrofa) challenged with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC). In a 28-d experiment (14 d before and 14 d after challenge), a total of 108 pigs at 20 ± 1 d of age were allotted to 1 of 6 diets. These were a control diet without ETEC challenge (CON) and 5 treatment diets with ETEC challenge, including a control diet with ETEC challenge (negative control, NC); a positive control diet containing antibiotics (PC); control diet plus (10(8), 10(9), or 10(10)) cfu/kg L. plantarum CJLP243 (T1, T2, and T3, respectively). After challenge, NC showed the least ADFI, whereas PC and T3 had the greatest ADFI (P = 0.002). The ADG of PC, T2, and T3 were greater (P = 0.001) than that of CON, NC, and T1 during wk 1 to wk 2. During wk 3 to wk 4, a marked decline was seen in NC (P = 0.001) compared with CON, whereas PC and T3 showed increased ADG (P = 0.001). The overall ADG of PC and T3 were greater (P < 0.001) than the remaining groups. The PC and T3 had the greatest G:F during the second 2 wk (P = 0.002), and the overall 4-wk experimental period (P = 0.003). At 3 h after challenge, all groups except CON had greater rectal temperatures (RT; P < 0.05). The RT decreased to prechallenge temperatures at 9 h (PC and T3), 24 h (T1 and T2), and remained increased until d 7 in NC. At 7 and 14 d postinfection, the number of animals detected positive for ETEC by PCR assay was the greatest in NC; however, the PC group had the fewest ETEC-positive animals (P < 0.05), which was similar to T3. All challenged pigs, except T2, had greater concentrations of serum haptoglobin compared with CON, with the greatest concentration observed in NC (P < 0.001). Challenged pigs had increased serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) 3 to 48 h postinfection, with the greatest concentration of TNF-α at 48 h observed in NC (P < 0.05). Similarly, greater (P < 0.05) serum concentrations of interferon-γ were observed for 9 h (T1 and T3), 24 h (T2 and PC), and 48 h (NC) postinfection. The serum concentration of IL-6 increased (P < 0.05) for 3 h in T3 and 24 h in NC. In conclusion, our findings suggest that L. plantarum CJLP243, at a concentration of 10(10) cfu/kg, may serve as a potential alternative to antibiotic supplementation to improve the growth and health performance of weaning pigs, especially during acute inflammation of the gut after bacterial infections.

Effects of Lactobacillus acidophilus and zinc oxide on the growth performance, jejunal morphology and immune function of weaned piglet following an Escherichia coli K88 challenge

“…In the present study, the results indicated that piglets fed 5 Â 10 10 CFU L. acidophilus or 3000 mg ZnO/kg feed had greater ADG, lower F:G than the unsupplemetend group. Consistently, previous studies have established improved ADFI and ADG of piglets fed Lactobacillus strains (Lee et al 2012;Yang et al 2014;Qiao et al 2015) or ZnO (Hill et al 2001). Thus, we can speculate that both LA and ZnO could improve the growth and might partly attenuate the effects of the stress of piglets during the post-weaning period.…”

“…probiotics are related to their competitive exclusion of pathogenic bacteria (Lee et al 2012). The way in which Lactobacillus species inhibit pathogens growth has been attributed to steric hindrance of binding sites (Ouwehand and Conway 1996), pH values (Lehto and Salminen 1997) and certain components of the lysed cell wall (Lehto and Salminen 1997).…”

“…Studies have shown that Lactobacillus strains (Lee et al 2012;Yang et al 2014) and ZnO (Hill et al 2001) were beneficial to growth performance and health status of weaning piglet. However, some studies indicated that L. brevis-supplementation feeding induced a nonsignificant increase in piglet body weight and caused no change in the morphology of the intestinal mucosa (L€ ahteinen et al 2014).…”

Effects of Lactobacillus acidophilus dietary supplementation on the performance, intestinal barrier function, rectal microflora and serum immune function in weaned piglets challenged with Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide

“…In practice, probiotic cultures need to have the following characteristics in order to exert a positive effect on pig performance: (1) the ability to colonize the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), (2) high growth rate and a low requirement for nutrients, (3) suppress enteric pathogens, either its cells or metabolites, (4) grown easily on a large scale under commercial conditions; and (5) survive in infeed and from the manufacturing process with a stable activity (de Lange et al 2010). Many available data support Lactobacillus, as being probiotics that have positive effects on the growth performance of piglets (Huang et al 2004;Wang et al 2009;Lee et al 2012;Yang et al 2014).…”

The effect of plant polyphenols on the antioxidant defence system of weaned piglets subjected to an <i>Escherichia coli</i> challenge

“…Several studies have shown that weaned piglets experienced diarrhoea and poor growth performance when orally challenged with the enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strain within a short period following weaning (Liu et al, 2013;Bontempo et al, 2014). Lee et al (2012) also observed reduced growth performance and diminished faecal consistency, as well as increased inflammatory response, in piglets challenged by ETEC within 14 days following weaning (Lessard et al, 2009). In this study, the injections of E. coli on days 21 and 25 reduced the gain-to-feed ratio during the three weeks post-challenge, which may indicate that E. coli challenge (double inoculations in older piglets) can induce negative effects on piglets' growth performance even after their gut microbial environment has matured.…”