Nutritional management of gut health in pigs around weaning

Abstract

Early weaning of piglets is often accompanied by a severe growth check and diarrhoea. It is well established that this process is multi-factorial and that post-weaning anorexia and undernutrition are major aetiological factors. Gastrointestinal disturbances include alterations in small intestine architecture and enzyme activities. Recent data indicate transiently-increased mucosal permeability, disturbed absorptive-secretory electrolyte balance and altered local inflammatory cytokine patterns after weaning. These responses appear to operate according to two distinct temporal patterns, an acute response followed by a long-lasting adaptation response. Pigs coexist with a diverse and dense commensal microbiota in their gastrointestinal tract. Most of these microbes are beneficial, providing necessary nutrients or protection against harmful pathogens for the host. The microbial colonisation of the porcine intestine begins at birth and follows a rapid succession during the neonatal and weaning period. Following the withdrawal of sow's milk the young piglets are highly susceptible to enteric diseases partly as a result of the altered balance between developing beneficial microbiota and the establishment of intestinal bacterial pathogens. The intestinal immune system of the newborn piglet is poorly developed at birth and undergoes a rapid period of expansion and specialisation that is not achieved before early (commercial) weaning. Here, new insights on the interactions between feed components, the commensal microbiota and the physiology and immunology of the host gastrointestinal tract are highlighted, and some novel dietary strategies are outlined that are focused on improving gut health. Prebiotics and probiotics are clear nutritional options, while convincing evidence is still lacking for other bioactive substances of vegetable origin.

Effects of the prebiotics inulin and lactulose on intestinal immunology and hematology of preruminant calves

“…Now, alternatives have to be found to stabilize gut health and to promote growth. These may include changes in nutrition, for example the inclusion of prebiotics (Lallè s et al, 2007). A prebiotic like inulin or lactulose has been defined as a non-digestible substance that beneficially affects the host by modulation of the intestinal flora (Gibson and Roberfroid, 1995).…”

Does the environmental background (intensive v. outdoor systems) influence the behaviour of piglets at weaning?

“…Social learning may increase food intake due to the additional stimulus-and substrate-rich environments of outdoor systems, where the mother can show a range of foraging behaviours. Willingness to take solid food is important because as few as 50% of piglets consume their first meal within 24 h post-weaning, and 10% do not consume their meal until 48 h later (Lallès et al, 2007). Animals that eat sooner post-weaning are, therefore, likely to be at a distinct advantage in terms of being able to adapt to the post-weaning environment.…”

Probiotics – do they have a role in the pig industry?

“…humans and farm animals (Calder et al, 2006;Lallè s et al, 2007;Marchesi and Shanahan, 2007;Collado et al, 2009;Setia et al, 2009;Shanahan, 2009). Especially, earlier studies have often suffered from a lack of rigorous study design, characterisation of probiotic strains, sufficient duration of treatment or description of host microbiota.…”