A dietary carbohydrase blend improved intestinal barrier function and growth rate in weaned pigs fed higher fiber diets1

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary xylanase (X) and a carbohydrase enzyme blend (EB: cellulase, β-glucanase, and xylanase) on nutrient digestibility, intestinal barrier integrity, inflammatory status, and growth performance in weaned piglets fed higher fiber diets. A total of 460 pigs (6.43 ± 0.06 kg BW; F25 × 6.0 Genetiporc) were blocked by initial BW and pens (n = 12 per treatment) were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 dietary treatments. The diets included a higher fiber unsupplemented control diet (CON) and the CON supplemented with 0.01% X, 0.01% EB, or both enzymes, arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial. The diets were based on corn, soybean meal, corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), and wheat middlings. Pigs had 7 d to adapt to the environment and consumed the same commercial diet. Pigs were fed the experimental diets for 28 d with free access to feed and water. Body weight and feed disappearance were recorded weekly. One pig with BW closest to the pen average from each pen was selected and moved to metabolism crates on day 16 and intragastric gavaged a solution of lactulose and mannitol on day 22 followed by 12-h urine collection. Feces were collected from day 23 to 25. Intestinal tissues and mucosal scrapings were collected on day 28. Data were analyzed using PROC MIXED of SAS (9.4). Xylanase, EB, and their interaction were fixed effects and block was a random effect. The EB, but not X, increased pig BW and improved ADG over 28 d (P < 0.05). Neither carbohydrase impacted ADFI, G:F, or apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of DM, GE, or CP. The EB improved ATTD of ADF (32.45 vs. 26.57%; P < 0.01), but had no effect on NDF. Unexpectedly, X reduced ATTD of NDF and ADF (P < 0.01). The EB reduced urinary lactulose:mannitol and increased ileal claudin-3 mRNA abundance (P < 0.05), indicating improved small intestinal barrier integrity. There was a X × EB interaction on ileal secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) concentration (P < 0.05); in the absence of X, EB decreased sIgA compared to CON, but this effect disappeared in the presence of X. The EB also reduced ileal IL-22 mRNA abundance (P < 0.05), probably indicating decreased immune activation. In conclusion, EB but not X enhanced growth rate of weaned pigs fed higher fiber diets, which may be partly explained by the improved small intestinal barrier integrity and reduced immune activation, rather than improvement in nutrient digestibility.

Effects of nucleotides administration on growth performance and immune response of post-weaning piglets

“…Ileum is highly susceptible to gut pathological events which may concern weaning piglets, and therefore its possible structural and functional changes linked to nutraceutical administration are of a predictive value in the view of judging intestinal defensive responsiveness (Domeneghini et al 2004). Some published papers targeted the ileum to evaluate the effect of feed additives with presumed beneficial effect on performance and inflammatoryand immune-related parameters (Chen et al 2018;Li et al 2018;Cao et al 2019) In addition, in our study we were expecting the major effects in gene expression occurring in this tract of the intestine according to the results reported by Schokker et al (2015), who outlined as in 55-day-old piglets only the ileum displayed differences in immune-related processes when compared to the jejunum. The authors attributed this result to the fact that, in differentiated and matured ileum, immunological structures like Peyer's patches are much more abundant as compared to jejunum.…”

Effect of dietary fiber and threonine content on intestinal barrier function in pigs challenged with either systemic E. coli lipopolysaccharide or enteric Salmonella Typhimurium

“…This may be because the pigs used in this study were all challenged with Salmonella, as such that the response of the tight junctions to the treatments may have been masked by the effect of the ST challenge. The products of fermentation have been reported previously to improve intestinal health through mechanisms involving modification of microbial environment and composition [6,41,62]. Therefore, we measured VFA concentration in intestinal digesta, and the impact of these metabolites in relation to the expression of genes associated with intestinal health and barrier function.…”

“…The aim of the present study was, therefore, to evaluate the independent and combined effects of dietary fiber and Thr on intestinal health and barrier function, using different conditions of immune challenge, including a systemic immune challenge using intravenously administered E. coli LPS or enteric challenge with oral Salmonella Typhimurium. In the first experiment, we used the L:M absorption test to measure barrier permeability [38][39][40], as the design allowed for total urine collection which has been reported to improve the accuracy of this method [39][40][41][42]. In experiment 2, tissue analysis for histology and gene expression were used to assess barrier function.…”

“…In experiment 1, we evaluated the effect of systemic LPS injection as an immune stimulatory agent on barrier function and further characterized the role of fiber and Thr on the intestinal barrier function with or without LPS induced immune challenge. Previous work has validated the use of lactulose and mannitol as a credible method of determining intestinal barrier permeability in pigs [39][40][41][42]. Movement of lactulose across the intestinal epithelium occurs only through paracellular routes whereas movement of mannitol occurs through both paracellular and transcellular pathways [42].…”

Review: innovation through research in the North American pork industry

“…They observed improved gastrointestinal barrier function and reduced inflammatory intermediates, which were all associated with faster rate of gain. An earlier study by Li et al (2018) evaluated a carbohydrase blend, consisting of cellulase, xylanase and β-glucanase, in pigs that were not ETEC-challenged. They reported improved growth associated with improved gut barrier integrity and reduced immune system activation.…”