Intestinal microbiota and its interaction to intestinal health in nursery pigs

Abstract

The intestinal microbiota has gained increased attention from researchers within the swine industry due to its role in promoting intestinal maturation, immune system modulation, and consequently the enhancement of the health and growth performance of the host. This review aimed to provide updated scientific information on the interaction among intestinal microbiota, dietary components, and intestinal health of pigs. The small intestine is a key site to evaluate the interaction of the microbiota, diet, and host because it is the main site for digestion and absorption of nutrients and plays an important role within the immune system. The diet and its associated components such as feed additives are the main factors affecting the microbial composition and is central in stimulating a beneficial population of microbiota. The microbiota–host interaction modulates the immune system, and, concurrently, the immune system helps to modulate the microbiota composition. The direct interaction between the microbiota and the host is an indication that the mucosa-associated microbiota can be more effective in evaluating its effect on health parameters. It was demonstrated that the mucosa-associated microbiota should be evaluated when analyzing the interaction among diets, microbiota, and health. In addition, supplementation of feed additives aimed to promote the intestinal health of pigs should consider their roles in the modulation of mucosa-associated microbiota as biomarkers to predict the response of growth performance to dietary interventions.

Nutritional and functional values of lysed Corynebacterium glutamicum cell mass for intestinal health and growth of nursery pigs

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that diet composition greatly affected the intestinal microbiota ( Etheridge et al, 1984 ; Upadrasta et al, 2013 ; Niu et al, 2015 ). Interestingly, in this study, the increasing CGCM supplementation, replacing blood plasma, showed a quadratic effect on the relative abundance of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, two of the dominant microbiota phyla in the jejunal mucosa of pigs ( Adhikari et al, 2019 ; Duarte et al, 2021 ). The supplementation of CGCM up to 1.1% or 5.6 g/d increased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and reduced the relative abundance of Firmicutes.…”

Supplemental Effects of Phytase on Modulation of Mucosa-Associated Microbiota in the Jejunum and the Impacts on Nutrient Digestibility, Intestinal Morphology, and Bone Parameters in Broiler Chickens

“…The ADFI and G:F were not affected by the supplementation of phytase. 2 Positive control (PC), 3 Bodyweight, 4 Average daily gain, 5 Average daily feed intake, 6 Gain to feed ratio.…”

“…On the other hand, phytase supplementation at a range from 2000 to 4000 FTU/kg feed tended (p = 0.071) to increase the crypt depth when compared with PC treatment. 2 Positive control (PC), 3 Villus height to crypt depth ratio.…”

“…Phytase supplementation at a range from 1000 to 4000 and from 2000 to 4000 FTU/kg feed increased (p < 0.05) the bone-breaking strength, ash per gram of tibia, ash, and P content when compared with the PC treatment. 2 Positive control (PC), 3 Bone breaking strength, 4 Calcium, 5 Phosphorus.…”

“…Enzymes have been widely used in animal production for optimizing nutrient digestibility and growth performance in all animal species. Exogenous enzymes supplemented with monogastric diets can contribute to the removal of antinutritional factors, modulating the intestinal microbiota, increasing the digestibility of nutrients and their utilization leading to improvements in intestinal health and growth performance [ 1 , 2 , 3 ].…”