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The Impact of Nutrition on Swine Gastrointestinal Tract Health and...
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The Impact of Nutrition on Swine Gastrointestinal Tract Health and Microbiota

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2022) | Viewed by 18220

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Paolo Bosi

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Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Interests: feeding of pigs; weaning; physiology; microbiology; immunity and health of the pig's digestive tract; nutrigenomics of the pig
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nowadays, the use of in-feed antibiotics is increasingly restricted, while research efforts aimed at studying dietary factors that can protect the intestine from the harmful effects of weaning stress and of massive production systems need to be increased. Nutrition can modulate the main non-immune defense mechanisms of the digestive system, the evolution of the local immune system of the weaning pig and the nutritional factors involved. A proper diet is also expected to rapidly consolidate the establishment of a mature community of microorganisms in the different digestive tracts of pigs. This also concerns the provision of feeds to the suckling piglet. There is also the need to complement basic nutritional knowledge with practical dietary guidelines to continuously maintain porcine gut health and beneficial coexistence between the gut microbiota and the host. Furthermore, it is also necessary to improve knowledge on the best feeding practices to optimize the health in the different digestive tracts that are interconnected but may also express different nutritional needs. This may be particularly for protein and carbohydrate fractions with different digestibility for the host and availability for the gut microbiota. Finally, there is still a market to develop reliable feeding additives to control swine gastrointestinal tract health and microbiota.

Prof. Paolo Bosi
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • pigs
  • gut homeostasis
  • dietary guidelines
  • microbial community
  • feed additives
  • gut barrier
  • creep feed
  • weaning

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 660 KiB  
Article
Effects of Dietary Cereal and Protein Source on Fiber Digestibility, Composition, and Metabolic Activity of the Intestinal Microbiota in Weaner Piglets
by Carola Ellner, Anna G. Wessels and Jürgen Zentek
Animals 2022, 12(1), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12010109 - 4 Jan 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3048
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effect of fiber-rich rye and rapeseed meal (RSM) compared to wheat and soybean meal (SBM) on fiber digestibility and the composition and metabolic activity of intestinal microbiota. At weaning, 88 piglets were allocated to four feeding groups: [...] Read more.
This study aimed to investigate the effect of fiber-rich rye and rapeseed meal (RSM) compared to wheat and soybean meal (SBM) on fiber digestibility and the composition and metabolic activity of intestinal microbiota. At weaning, 88 piglets were allocated to four feeding groups: wheat/SBM, wheat/RSM, rye/SBM, and rye/RSM. Dietary inclusion level was 48% for rye and wheat, 25% for SBM, and 30% for RSM. Piglets were euthanized after 33 days for collection of digesta and feces. Samples were analyzed for dry matter and non-starch-polysaccharide (NSP) digestibility, bacterial metabolites, and relative abundance of microbiota. Rye-based diets had higher concentrations of soluble NSP than wheat-based diets. RSM-diets were higher in insoluble NSP compared to SBM. Rye-fed piglets showed a higher colonic and fecal digestibility of NSP (p < 0.001, p = 0.001, respectively). RSM-fed piglets showed a lower colonic and fecal digestibility of NSP than SBM-fed piglets (p < 0.001). Rye increased jejunal and colonic concentration of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) compared to wheat (p < 0.001, p = 0.016, respectively). RSM-fed pigs showed a lower jejunal concentration of SCFA (p = 0.001) than SBM-fed pigs. Relative abundance of Firmicutes was higher (p = 0.039) and of Proteobacteria lower (p = 0.002) in rye-fed pigs compared to wheat. RSM reduced Firmicutes and increased Actinobacteria (jejunum, colon, feces: p < 0.050), jejunal Proteobacteria (p = 0.019) and colonic Bacteroidetes (p = 0.014). Despite a similar composition of the colonic microbiota, the higher amount and solubility of NSP from rye resulted in an increased fermentative activity compared to wheat. The high amount of insoluble dietary fiber in RSM-based diets reduced bacterial metabolic activity and caused a shift toward insoluble fiber degrading bacteria. Further research should focus on host–microbiota interaction to improve feeding concepts with a targeted use of dietary fiber. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Nutrition on Swine Gastrointestinal Tract Health and Microbiota)
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16 pages, 913 KiB  
Article
Effect of a Polyphenol-Based Additive in Pig Diets in the Early Stages of Growth
by Gianluca Galassi, Marco Battelli, Nicole Verdile, Luca Rapetti, Raffaella Zanchi, Sharon Arcuri, Francesca Petrera, Fabio Abeni and Gianni Matteo Crovetto
Animals 2021, 11(11), 3241; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11113241 - 12 Nov 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2316
Abstract
The weaning period is a stressful period for the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of piglets. This work aims to evaluate the effects of the commercial polyphenol-based product GreenFIS® on: (1) GIT health and performance of 60 weaned piglets; (2) digestibility in 18 growing [...] Read more.
The weaning period is a stressful period for the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of piglets. This work aims to evaluate the effects of the commercial polyphenol-based product GreenFIS® on: (1) GIT health and performance of 60 weaned piglets; (2) digestibility in 18 growing pigs. Three diets were tested: a control diet (C), C plus 2.5 g of GreenFIS®/kg C (T1), and C plus 5 g of GreenFIS®/kg C (T2). After the post-weaning trial three piglets per treatment were sacrificed for the GIT histological analysis. No differences between diets were recorded in terms of growing performance or clinical and biochemical blood parameters. The GIT histological analysis did not show any indicators of inflammation for any of the groups. The feces of the two extreme treatments (C and T2) were analyzed for microbiota, revealing a greater presence of the Ruminococcus bromii group, positively associated with starch degradation, in T2. In the second experiment six pigs per treatment were randomly chosen for the digestibility study. The inclusion of GreenFIS® at both levels led to a higher fecal digestibility of gross energy (86.2%, 89.1%, and 89.5%, for C, T1, and T2, respectively) and crude protein (87.0%, 90.2%, and 90.0%). In conclusion, the additive did not improve, in the excellent experimental hygienic conditions, the gut health, but it did increase nutrient digestibility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Nutrition on Swine Gastrointestinal Tract Health and Microbiota)
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16 pages, 3680 KiB  
Article
Effects of Multi-Bacteria Solid-State Fermented Diets with Different Crude Fiber Levels on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, and Microbial Flora of Finishing Pigs
by Ping Hu, Lingang Wang, Zhijin Hu, Liwen Jiang, Hong Hu, Zebin Rao, Liuting Wu and Zhiru Tang
Animals 2021, 11(11), 3079; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11113079 - 28 Oct 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2290
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effects of multi-bacteria solid-state fermented diets with different crude fiber (CF) levels on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and microbial flora of finishing pigs. The multi-bacteria solid-state fermented diets were made up of Lactobacillus amylovorus, Enterococcus faecalis [...] Read more.
This study aimed to investigate the effects of multi-bacteria solid-state fermented diets with different crude fiber (CF) levels on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and microbial flora of finishing pigs. The multi-bacteria solid-state fermented diets were made up of Lactobacillus amylovorus, Enterococcus faecalis, Bacillus subtilis, and Candida utilis. According to a 2 (factors) × 2 (levels) design, with the two factors being multi-bacteria solid-state fermentation (fed non-fermented diet or multi-bacteria fermentation) or CF levels (fed a basal diet containing 2.52% CF or 7.00% CF), a total of 36 finishing pigs (70.80 ± 5.75 kg) were divided into 4 treatments with 9 barrows per group: (1) pigs fed a diet containing 7.00% CF (HF), (2) pigs fed a multi-bacteria fermentation diet containing 7.00% CF (HFM), (3) pigs fed a diet containing 2.52% CF (LF), and (4) piglets fed a multi-bacteria fermentation diet containing 2.52% CF (LFM). This experiment lasted 28 days. The multi-bacteria solid-state fermented diet increased the backfat thickness (p < 0.05) and apparent total tract nutrient digestibility (ATTD) of CF, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), crude protein (CP), 8 amino acids (Trp, Asp, Gly, Cys, Val, Met, Ile, and Leu), total essential amino acids (EAA), total non-essential amino acids (NEEA), and total amino acids (TAA) (p < 0.05). Multi-bacteria solid-state fermented diet increased serum concentrations of HDL-c, ABL, TP, and GLU, the serum enzyme activities of GSH-Px, T-AOC, SOD, and CAT (p < 0.05), the relative abundance of Lactobacillus, Oscillospira, and Coprococcus (p < 0.05), and the abundance of YAMINSYN3-PWY, PWY-7013, GOLPDLCAT-PWY, ARGORNPROST-PWY, and PWY-5022 pathways (p < 0.05). The multi-bacteria solid-state fermented diet reduced the digestion amount of CF, NDF, and ADF (p < 0.05), the serum concentrations of TC, TG, LDL-c, BUN, and MDA (p < 0.05), the relative abundance of Streptococcaceae (p < 0.05), and the abundance of PWY-6470, PWY0-862, HSERMETANA-PWY, LACTOSECAT-PWY, MET-SAM-PWY, PWY-6700, PWY-5347, PWY0-1061, and LACTOSECAT-PWY pathways (p < 0.05). The high-fiber diet increased average daily feed intake (p < 0.05), the serum concentrations of TC, TG, LDL-c, BUN, and MDA (p < 0.05), the relative abundance of Clostridiaceae_Clostridium and Coprococcus (p < 0.05), and the abundance of TCA-GLYOX-BYPASS, GLYCOLYSIS-TCA-GLYOX-BYPASS, and PWY-6906 pathways (p < 0.05). The high-fiber diet reduced chest circumference (p < 0.05) and ATTD of ether extract (EE), CF, NDF, ADF, Ca, CP, 18 amino acids (Trp, Thr, Val, Met, Ile, Leu, Phe, Lys, His, Arg Asp, Ser, Glu, Gly, Ala, Cys, Tyr, and Pro), EAA, NEAA, and TAA (p < 0.05). The high-fiber diet also reduced the serum concentrations of HDL-c, TP, ABL, and GLU, the serum enzyme activities of T-AOC, GSH-Px, SOD, and CAT (p < 0.05), and the relative abundance of Akkermansia and Oscillospira (p < 0.05). There was no significant effect of the interaction between multi-bacteria fermentation and dietary CF levels, except on the digestion amount of CF (p < 0.05). The 7.00% CF had a negative effect on the digestion of nutrients, but multi-bacteria solid-state fermentation diets could relieve this negative effect and increase backfat thickness. High-fiber diets and multi-bacteria solid-state fermentation improved the diversity and abundance of fecal microorganisms in finishing pigs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Nutrition on Swine Gastrointestinal Tract Health and Microbiota)
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19 pages, 2244 KiB  
Article
Investigation of Early Supplementation of Nucleotides on the Intestinal Maturation of Weaned Piglets
by Federico Correa, Diana Luise, Ivonne Archetti, Paolo Bosi and Paolo Trevisi
Animals 2021, 11(6), 1489; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061489 - 21 May 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2455
Abstract
Nucleotides are essential for the development of the gastrointestinal tract and immune function, but their intake with milk by piglets could be insufficient. The effect of nucleotides on growth and health was tested on 98 piglets divided into two groups: NU, orally administrated [...] Read more.
Nucleotides are essential for the development of the gastrointestinal tract and immune function, but their intake with milk by piglets could be insufficient. The effect of nucleotides on growth and health was tested on 98 piglets divided into two groups: NU, orally administrated with 4 mL of a nucleotide-based product (SwineMOD®) at 10, 15, 18, 21, 27 days, or not (CO). Blood and feces were sampled at weaning (26 d, T1), and at 38 d (T2). Per each group and time-point, eight piglets were slaughtered and jejunal Peyer’s patches (JPPs) were collected. NU increased hemoglobin content and hematocrit, but not growth. At weaning, the NU fecal microbiota was characterized by the abundance of Campylobacteraceae, more typical of the growing phase, compared to CO, with a greater abundance of Streptococcaceae. For the blood transcriptome, an initial greater inflammatory activation was seen in CO, while at T2, NU enriched gene sets related to erythropoiesis. The activation of gene groups ranging from epigenetic response to transcriptional regulation evidenced an intense proliferative activity in NU JPPs. NU supplementation did not influence the growth performance of piglets but could have expressed a positive effect on pig microbiota anticipating its maturation at weaning. This immunostimulant activity in the JPPs could moderate the inflammation in the immediate pre-weaning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Nutrition on Swine Gastrointestinal Tract Health and Microbiota)
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14 pages, 2172 KiB  
Article
A Moderate Reduction of Dietary Crude Protein Provide Comparable Growth Performance and Improve Metabolism via Changing Intestinal Microbiota in Sushan Nursery Pigs
by Riliang Liu, Jianwen He, Xu Ji, Weijiang Zheng and Wen Yao
Animals 2021, 11(4), 1166; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11041166 - 19 Apr 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2868
Abstract
In this paper, we investigated the effects of a diet with a moderate reduction of dietary crude protein (CP) level, supplemented with five crystalline amino acids (Lys, Met, Thr, Try, and Val), on the growth, metabolism, and fecal microbiota of Sushan nursery pigs. [...] Read more.
In this paper, we investigated the effects of a diet with a moderate reduction of dietary crude protein (CP) level, supplemented with five crystalline amino acids (Lys, Met, Thr, Try, and Val), on the growth, metabolism, and fecal microbiota of Sushan nursery pigs. Seventy Sushan nursery pigs with an average body weight of 19.56 ± 0.24 kg were randomly allocated to two experimental dietary treatments: 18% CP (high protein; group HP), and 15% CP (low protein; group LP). We found that the differences in the two diets had no significant effect on the growth performance of Sushan nursery pigs. Nursery pigs on the 15% CP diet showed significantly improved protein, amino acid, and energy utilization. Furthermore, the LP diet cloud optimized the gut microflora composition to some extent. The functional structure of bacterial communities implied improved metabolic capabilities in group LP. Additionally, correlation analysis between fecal microbiota and metabolic profiles confirmed that the increase of beneficial bacterial in the feces was beneficial to the health and metabolism of the nursery pigs. In conclusion, a moderate reduction in the dietary protein level can improve growth and metabolism due to the improvement of intestinal microbiota in Sushan nursery pigs. This finding could provide useful reference data for the application of a different nutrition strategy in indigenous pig production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Nutrition on Swine Gastrointestinal Tract Health and Microbiota)
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Review

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19 pages, 568 KiB  
Review
Feeding Marine Polysaccharides to Alleviate the Negative Effects Associated with Weaning in Pigs
by John V. O’Doherty, Brigkita Venardou, Ruth Rattigan and Torres Sweeney
Animals 2021, 11(9), 2644; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092644 - 9 Sep 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3673
Abstract
In young pigs, the challenge of weaning frequently leads to dysbiosis. This predisposes pigs to intestinal infection such as post-weaning diarrhoea (PWD). Dietary interventions to reduce PWD have centred on dietary inclusion of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) and antimicrobials in pig diets, or [...] Read more.
In young pigs, the challenge of weaning frequently leads to dysbiosis. This predisposes pigs to intestinal infection such as post-weaning diarrhoea (PWD). Dietary interventions to reduce PWD have centred on dietary inclusion of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) and antimicrobials in pig diets, or high concentrations of zinc oxide. These interventions are under scrutiny because of their role in promoting multidrug resistant bacteria and the accumulation of minerals in the environment. There are significant efforts being made to identify natural alternatives. Marine polysaccharides, such as laminarin and fucoidan from macroalgae and chitosan and chito-oligosaccharides from chitin, are an interesting group of marine dietary supplements, due to their prebiotic, antibacterial, anti-oxidant, and immunomodulatory activities. However, natural variability exists in the quantity, structure, and bioactivity of these polysaccharides between different macroalgae species and harvest seasons, while the wide range of available extraction methodologies and conditions results in further variation. This review will discuss the development of the gastrointestinal tract in the pig during the post-weaning period and how feeding marine polysaccharides in both the maternal and the post-weaned pig diet, can be used to alleviate the negative effects associated with weaning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Nutrition on Swine Gastrointestinal Tract Health and Microbiota)
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