Supplementation of fructooligosaccharides to suckling piglets affects intestinal microbiota colonization and immune development1

Abstract

Emerging knowledge shows the importance of early life events in programming the intestinal mucosal immune system and development of the intestinal barrier function. These processes depend heavily on close interactions between gut microbiota and host cells in the intestinal mucosa. In turn, development of the intestinal microbiota is largely dependent on available nutrients required for the specific microbial community structures to expand. It is currently not known what the specificities are of intestinal microbial community structures in relation to the programming of the intestinal mucosal immune system and development of the intestinal barrier function. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of a nutritional intervention on intestinal development of suckling piglets by daily oral administration of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) over a period of 12 d (days 2–14 of age). At the microbiota community level, a clear “bifidogenic” effect of the FOS administration was observed in the colon digesta at day 14. The former, however, did not translate into significant changes of local gene expression in the colonic mucosa. In the jejunum, significant changes were observed for microbiota composition at day 14, and microbiota diversity at day 25. In addition, significant differentially expressed gene sets in mucosal tissues of the jejunum were identified at both days 14 and 25 of age. At the age of 14 d, a lower activity of cell cycle–related processes and a higher activity of extracellular matrix processes were observed in the jejunal mucosa of piglets supplemented with FOS compared with control piglets. At day 25, the lower activity of immune-related processes in jejunal tissue was seen in piglets supplemented with FOS. Villi height and crypt depth in the jejunum were significantly different at day 25 between the experimental and control groups, where piglets supplemented with FOS had greater villi and deeper crypts. We conclude that oral FOS administration during the early suckling period of piglets had significant bifidogenic effects on the microbiota in the colon and on gene expression in the jejunal mucosa by thus far unknown mechanisms.

Short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides enhances intestinal barrier function by attenuating mucosa inflammation and altering colonic microbiota composition of weaning piglets

“…The contradictory findings may stem from the different type and dosage of FOS used between previous studies. Previous studies showed that the growth performance, immune function or intestinal morphology of piglets were improved after consumption of scFOS (Xu et al 2005;Le Bourgot et al 2017;Schokker et al 2018). Consistently, in this study, piglets fed the diet containing scFOS increased average ADG and decreased feed to gain ratio of piglets.…”

“…Shim et al (2005) contended that scFOS may be more beneficial than lcFOS. Maternal scFOS consumption has been shown to improve the growth performance and promote the maturation of the immune system of suckling piglets (Le Bourgot et al 2014;Schokker et al 2018). Le Bourgot et al (2017) reported that maternal scFOS consumption increased intestinal cytokines secretion, goblet cell number and butyrate concentration in weaning pigs.…”

Early-life feeding accelerates gut microbiome maturation in piglets

“…Additionally, these effects coincided with the accelerated disappearance of typical pre-weaning associated microbes such as Fusobacterium, Finegoldia, Bacteroides, Eschechichia-Shigella , which did occur at a much slower rate in the CON piglets. Previous studies have occasionally found similar microbial groups on consumption of solid feed or specific dietary fibres in suckling piglets (Berding et al, 2016; Zhang et al, 2016; Schokker et al, 2018; Wang et al, 2019). Importantly, the degree of resemblance observed was quantitatively correlated to the amount of feed consumed pre-weaning, strengthening the relation between feed-consumption and the acceleration in microbiota development.…”

“…Several studies have evaluated the impact of dietary fibres on intestinal microbiota composition, focussing mostly on weaned or growing pigs (Yao, 2008; Ivarsson et al, 2012; Liu et al, 2012, 2018; Haenen et al, 2013; Dicksved et al, 2015; Umu et al, 2015, 2018; Burbach et al, 2017; Zhao et al, 2018; Soler et al, 2018; Yin et al, 2019; Chen et al, 2020). However, only a handful of studies have modulated the early-life “window of opportunity” using dietary treatments in neonatal piglets and evaluated the impact of fibres on microbiota composition (Shim et al, 2005; Berding et al, 2016; Zhang et al, 2016; Mu et al, 2017; Schokker et al, 2018; Van Hees et al, 2019). Most of these studies assessed the effect of specific dietary fibres on the intestinal microbiota at a single time-point, and employed outdated methods of analysis like microbiota cultivation, 16S DNA-microarray technology, and/or qPCR analysis of selected microbial groups.…”

Gut Microbiota and Dysbiosis in Alzheimer’s Disease: Implications for Pathogenesis and Treatment

“…RS2 has been shown to alter the abundance of at least some intestinal bacterial genera and species, including enrichment of Ruminococcus bromii , Bifidobacterium adolescentis , Faecalibacterium prausnitzii , and E. rectale and reductions in Oscillospira , Lachnospiraceae , and Blautia [ 163 ]. FOS are found in natural fruits and vegetables and can promote the growth of beneficial gut microbiota such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus [ 164 , 165 ]. FOS are effective in maintaining the diversity and stability of the microbial community, alleviating neuronal apoptosis and the swelling of brain tissues, regulating the synthesis and secretion of neurotransmitters, and downregulating the expression of tau and Aβ1-42 in the brain of rats with AD-like symptoms [ 166 ].…”