Microbial Fermentation Patterns, Diarrhea Incidence, and Performance in Weaned Piglets Fed a Low Protein Diet Supplemented with Probiotics

Abstract

To evaluate the effects of dietary protein levels and probiotic supplementation on microbial intestinal fermentation, diarrhea incidence, and performance in weaned piglets, 162 piglets were randomly assigned to three treatments: high-protein diet (20%), with antibiotics (HPa); high-protein diet (20%), without antibiotics (HP); and low-protein diet, without antibiotics but with probiotics (LPpb). Piglets and feed were weighed weekly to calculate the average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and gain: feed ratio (G:F). Four piglets per treatment were killed on day 21 postweaning to collect ileal and colon digesta for measurement of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), branched-chain fatty acids (BCFAs), lactic acid (LA), and ammonia (AM). In the digesta collected from the ileum and colon, piglets fed the HPa diet had the lowest concentration of volatile fatty acids. Additionally, the HP diet produced the highest concentration of BCFAs, while the LPpb diet produced moreacetic, propionic, and butyric acids than the HPa and HP diets. Piglets fed the HP diet had higher incidence and severity of diarrhea than piglets fed LPpb and HPa diets, and similar values were observed between these two groups. The second week postweaning was the most critical for diarrhea measurements; during the second week, animals had higher incidence and severity of diarrhea. Piglets fed the HPa and LPpb diets had similar ADGs, while those fed the HP diet had the poorest ADG. Similar results were observed with ADFI and G:F. A low-protein diet supplemented with probiotics changed the fermentation profile, reducing toxic metabolites, promoting gut health, decreasing the incidence and severity of postweaning diarrhea, and improving the performance of piglets.

Chitooligosaccharide for piglets: effects on performance, viscera and intestinal morphometry

“…toxic metabolites in the intestinal lumen, indicated by an increase in villi height and a better villi/ crypt ratio in non-ruminant animals (GARCÍA et al, 2014;SANTANA et al, 2012;NÖRNBERG, 2003), as seen with COS in piglets (HAN et al, 2007). In this study, the jejunum, which has excellent absorptive activity, demonstrated a direct correlation between villi height increasing levels of COS, corroborating the previous results of Liu et al (2008) indicating that 200 ppm COS had a positive effect on this characteristic.…”

“…The effects of these acids on the intestinal epithelia are related to an increase in cellular proliferation and activity, leading to an increase in the relative weight of this organ (ROBERFROID, 2002 For the relative weight of organs and the small intestine length (Table 5), a linear increase was observed for the relative weight of the large intestine and the dose of COS used. The use of Oliveira, E. R. et al with antibiotics, promotes an increase in large intestine relative weight, related to benefits in performance and intestinal health (GARCÍA et al, 2014). Moreover, this increases the total number of bacteria in this organ and reduces the total amount of E. coli and Clostridium spp.…”

What Is the Impact of Diet on Nutritional Diarrhea Associated with Gut Microbiota in Weaning Piglets: A System Review

“…Interestingly, an increase in ammonia concentration has a detrimental effect on the health of the GIT and a negative effect on the growth and differentiation of intestinal epithelial cells [49,50]. Additionally, BCFAs and ammonia are toxic metabolites for the intestinal mucosa and most likely trigger PWND and the poor performance in piglets [39,51,52]. More importantly, the upregulated expression of ammonia may induce a disorder of the intestinal microbial balance during weaning [20].…”

Eucommia Ulmoides Flavones as Antibiotic Alternatives in a Low-protein Diet Improve Growth Performance and Intestinal Health in Weaning Piglets

“…Lactic acid bacteria is most commonly used probiotic in livestock, and predominant at the early stage of pig gut microflora construction [36]. Increased lactic acid bacteria can reduce fecal pH and ammonia nitrogen levels [34,37], as well as prevent colonization of pathogenic organism colonization, therefore improve the natural microbiome and gut health [31]. Lots of bioactive antimicrobial chemical forms, including phenolic acids, quinones, flavonoids, tannins and alkaloids, have been identified and been used in animal nutrition [7,8].…”