Effects of galacto-oligosaccharide on growth performance, feacal microbiota, immune response and antioxidant capability in weaned piglets

Abstract

The present experiment investigated the effects of galacto-oligosaccharide (GOS) on growth performance, faecal microbiota, immune response and antioxidant capability in weaned piglets. Ninety 28-day-old weaned piglets were randomly allocated into 5 treatments with 6 replicate pens per treatment and 3 piglets per pen (n = 18). These five diets were formulated by adding 0, 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 mg/ kg GOS to the basal diet, respectively. The experiment was lasted for 28 days. Body weight and feed intake were determined. Faeces samples were collected to detect the amount of microbiota. Blood samples were used to determine antioxidative and immune parameters. The results indicated that GOS supplementation improved the growth performance, increased the number of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria and decreased the number of Escherichia coli in a linear or quadratic dose-dependent manner. Dietary GOS decreased serum concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines in a quadratic dose-dependent manner, but increased anti-inflammatory cytokines in a linear or quadratic dosedependent manner. Moreover, GOS supplementation promoted the activities of antioxidant enzyme in a linear or quadratic dose-dependent manner during the experiment. The levels of MDA quadratically decreased on d 28. These results suggested that GOS exhibited positive effects on growth performance, immune function and antioxidant capability in weaned piglets.

Early-life galacto-oligosaccharides supplementation alleviates the small intestinal oxidative stress and dysfunction of lipopolysaccharide-challenged suckling piglets

“…Our present study demonstrated that the early-life GOS supplement affected ADG of suckling piglets. Similar observations were made by Xing et al [ 11 ] and Wu et al [ 34 ], indicating the growth-enhancing benefits of GOS in piglets. We also found that GOS alleviated the oxidative stress by stimulating antioxidant enzymes production, which was related to AMPK signaling pathway, thereby maintaining gut function homeostasis.…”

“…There is a growing research interest in understanding the effects of prebiotic on antioxidant capacity and barrier function. Prebiotics such as GOS have been reported to enhance the intestinal barrier function [ 27 , 28 ] and antioxidant capacity [ 11 , 29 , 30 ]. A progressive oxidation shift in the glutathione and glutathione disulfide redox status caused by oxidative stress induces abnormal proliferation, growth stagnation, differentiation and apoptosis which cause the intestinal damage and injury of gut barrier, leading to serious inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer [ 31 – 33 ].…”

“…These results were consistent with a recent report about using LPS to establish a cell oxidative injury model to study the protective effects of epidermal growth factor on IPEC-J2 cells [ 36 ]. Previous studies have reported that GOS have an antioxidant capacity [ 11 , 30 ]. Consistent with these studies, the increase of ROS release and MDA production and the decrease of antioxidant enzyme levels induced by LPS were significantly blocked by GOS in present study, suggesting that GOS alleviated LPS-induced oxidative stress.…”

Lactobacillus fermentum CQPC08 Attenuates Exercise-Induced Fatigue in Mice Through Its Antioxidant Effects and Effective Intervention of Galactooligosaccharide

“… 58 In addition, studies have pointed out that the addition of GOS to the diet increases the number of Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria in the feces, and at the same time improves the growth performance of weaned piglets, and improves the immunity and antioxidant capacity of weaned piglets. 59 Our research has also obtained similar results. The extra addition of GOS has further improved the antioxidant capacity of mice that were originally increased under the action of Lactobacillus fermentum CQPC08.…”

The Impact of Weaning Stress on Gut Health and the Mechanistic Aspects of Several Feed Additives Contributing to Improved Gut Health Function in Weanling Piglets—A Review

“…The indigestible food ingredients’ ability to selectively stimulate the proliferation and activity of beneficial microorganisms, thereby benefiting the host, is known as prebiotics [ 110 ]. The beneficial effects of several prebiotics such as fructo-oligosaccharide, levan-type fructan, inulin, lactulose, galacto-oligosaccharide, and resistant starch on weanling pigs have been reported by several studies [ 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 ]. The proposed mechanisms of action of many prebiotics are due to the enhancement of the intestinal barrier function via the modulation of intestinal tight junction [ 111 ].…”