The association between faecal host DNA or faecal calprotectin and feed efficiency in pigs fed yeast-enriched protein concentrate

Abstract

Gut cell losses contribute to overall feed efficiency due to the energy requirement for cell replenishment. Intestinal epithelial cells are sloughed into the intestinal lumen as digesta passes through the gastrointestinal tract, where cells are degraded by endonucleases. This leads to fragmented DNA being present in faeces, which may be an indicator of gut cell loss. Therefore, measuring host faecal DNA content could have potential as a non-invasive marker of gut cell loss and result in a novel technique for the assessment of how different feed ingredients impact upon gut health. Faecal calprotectin (CALP) is a marker of intestinal inflammation. This was a pilot study designed to test a methodology for extracting and quantifying DNA from pig faeces, and to assess whether any differences in host faecal DNA and CALP could be detected. An additional aim was to determine whether any differences in the above measures were related to the pig performance response to dietary yeast-enriched protein concentrate (YPC). Newly weaned (∼26.5 days of age) Large White × Landrace × Pietrain piglets (8.37 kg ±1.10, n = 180) were assigned to one of four treatment groups (nine replicates of five pigs), differing in dietary YPC content: 0% (control), 2.5%, 5% and 7.5% (w/w). Pooled faecal samples were collected on days 14 and 28 of the 36-day trial. Deoxyribonucleic acid was extracted and quantitative PCR was used to assess DNA composition. Pig genomic DNA was detected using primers specific for the pig cytochrome b (CYTB) gene, and bacterial DNA was detected using universal 16S primers. A pig CALP ELISA was used to assess gut inflammation. Dietary YPC significantly reduced feed conversion ratio (FCR) from weaning to day 14 (P<0.001), but not from day 14 to day 28 (P = 0.220). Pig faecal CYTB DNA content was significantly (P = 0.008) reduced in YPC-treated pigs, with no effect of time, whereas total faecal bacterial DNA content was unaffected by diet or time (P>0.05). Faecal CALP levels were significantly higher at day 14 compared with day 28, but there was no effect of YPC inclusion and no relationship with FCR. In conclusion, YPC reduced faecal CYTB DNA content and this correlated positively with FCR, but was unrelated to gut inflammation, suggesting that it could be a non-invasive marker of gut cell loss. However, further validation experiments by an independent method are required to verify the origin of pig faecal CYTB DNA as being from sloughed intestinal epithelial cells.

Morphological Assessment and Biomarkers of Low-Grade, Chronic Intestinal Inflammation in Production Animals

“…Fecal and circulating levels of calprotectin have been used as a biomarker to track the gut inflammatory activity in human [ 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 ] and canine [ 74 , 84 , 85 , 86 ] patients with chronic enteropathies. In swine, the biomarker has been applied to evaluate the intestinal disruption by pathogenic enterobacteria and their toxins [ 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 ], but also to evaluate the positive effects of dietary supplementations on the intestinal inflammation and integrity [ 92 , 93 , 94 ]. Studies in human health show that the blood levels of calprotectin increase in response to diverse conditions involving tissue damage and inflammation, not exclusively in the intestine [ 72 , 95 ].…”

Transmission of Zearalenone, Deoxynivalenol, and Their Derivatives from Sows to Piglets during Lactation

“…Although this level is far lower than the recommended one (900 ppb) [ 4 ] and can be regarded as background contamination of pig feed, some impact on the intestinal integrity was hypothesized, particularly in combination with the intended ZEN dosing regimen, since ZEN was also shown to affect intestinal integrity [ 9 ]. Therefore, serum markers of inflammation like calprotectin [ 10 ] and also the anti-inflammatory marker GLP1 [ 11 ] were selected to test this hypothesis. Furthermore, the serum levels of the tight junction protein zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) could indicate the occurrence of gut leakage [ 12 ].…”

Citrullinemia is a suitable biomarker for post weaning performance in piglets under intensive farming

“…5,6 Structural and functional biomarkers can be used to study intestinal and systemic changes in response to weaning, as follows: enzymatic activity (intestinal epithelial disaccharidases, trypsin, plasmatic cholecystokinin, etc), sugars absorption, villi length, crypts depth, colonic and caecal bacteria, pH of stomach and intestinal contents, weight of the intestine and pancreas, genes transcription and regulation, production of acute phase proteins, and fecal calprotectin, among others. [7][8][9][10][11][12] In most cases, animals must be slaughtered at different time points and several parameters must be analyzed together to explain a physiologic situation. A single variable obtained by a minimally invasive intervention would be valuable to describe intestinal changes after weaning and predict growth performance by the end of the postweaning period.…”