Impact of zinc oxide, benzoic acid and probiotics on the performance and cecal microbiota of piglets

Abstract

Background Intestinal health remains a key factor in animal production because it is essential for digestion, absorption and bacterial fermentation. Feed additives have been used to attenuate the weaning stress such as Zinc Oxide (ZnO) and benzoic acid (C7H6O2). The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of of benzoic acid and probiotics (BA + P) on performance, diarrhea and cecal microbiota of piglets in the nursery phase (23 to 65 days). Results One hundred and sixty weaned piglets with an initial weight of 6.335 ± 0.698 kg and 23 days of age were submitted to four treatments: supplementation with 2500 ppm of Zinc oxide (ZnO), supplementation with a commercial blend of benzoic acid and probiotics (Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus subtilis and Enterococcus faecium NCIMB 10415; Vevogut P®) (BA + P), supplementation with Zinc oxide plus benzoic acid and probiotics (ZnO + BA + P), and controls receiving only the basal diet without any supplementation. At 65 days of age, 32 piglets (n = 8 per treatment) were slaughtered for the evaluation of the cecal microbiota. Supplementation with ZnO and BA + P were associated with better feed conversion (P < 0.05) in the early stage (23 to 49 days) and with an improvement in all performance parameters over the entire experimental period. The occurrence of diarrhea was lower (P < 0.05) in the BA + P group. The 4 most abundant phyla along with unclassified bacteria represented 93% of all sequences. Firmicutes dominated the cecal microbiota of all groups, followed by Bacteroidetes. Richness represented by the observed number of genera and by the Chao index were statistically lower in ZnO and ZnO + BA + P supplemented animals compared to controls. The beta diversity analysis that compares similarities between bacterial communities demonstrated formation of two distinct clusters containing samples with and without supplementation with ZnO, confirming a strong influence of ZnO on the intestinal microbiota. Conclusion The use of Benzoic acid with probiotics yields similar performance results with lower impact on the gut microbiota compared to ZnO, and it should be considered as a potential alternative in swine production.

Antibacterial plant combinations prevent postweaning diarrhea in organically raised piglets challenged with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli F18

“…In the current study, following the ETEC F18 challenge, the microbiota configuration of pigs in the GA and GB groups differed from the PC pigs consistently. Similar effects have been observed 40 days postweaning in pigs supplemented with pharmacological levels of zinc oxide during the nursery period ( 72 ), and 21 days postweaning following chito-oligosaccharide supplementation to piglets during an ETEC challenge ( 73 ). We only followed the pigs up to 3 weeks after weaning, but considering the aforementioned studies, a lasting effect of GA and GB supplementation on the microbiota structure of pigs may be expected.…”

Partial replacement of soybean meal with full-fat black soldier fly larvae meal in plant-based nursery diets did not influence fecal Escherichia coli colony forming units or improve fecal consistency when pigs were weaned into non-disinfected pens

“…The current experiment also demonstrated that pharmacological ZnO is effective at improving feed intake and fecal scores and reducing fecal E. coli shedding after weaning, as have many others ( Yu et al, 2017 ; da Silva et al, 2021 ; Christensen et al, 2022 ). It is well known that pharmacological ZnO increases blood ghrelin concentration, which promotes feed intake thereby reducing villus atrophy and intestinal dysfunction after weaning ( Yin et al, 2009 ).…”

Fine-tuning of post-weaning pig microbiome structure and functionality by in-feed zinc oxide and antibiotics use

“…Another two species linked to ZnO-free herds were M. elsdenii and Acidaminococcus fermentans . Previous studies have also reported the negative impact of ZnO on the abundance of these two species ( Pieper et al., 2020 ; Silva et al., 2021 ; Ortiz Sanjuán et al., 2022 ), which are capable of produce butyrate from lactate and glutamate, respectively ( Tsukahara et al., 2006 ; Sarmikasoglou and Faciola, 2022 ; Böck, 2009 ). Both amino-acid fermenting species are common members of the adult pig fecal microbiota and increase in the abundance as the animal grows.…”