Determining the safety and efficacy of dietary supplementation with 3ˊ-sialyllactose or 6ˊ-sialyllactose on growth, tolerance, and brain sialic acid concentrations

Abstract

Sialylated oligosaccharides, including 3ˊ-sialyllactose (3ˊ-SL) and 6ˊ-sialyllactose (6ˊ-SL), comprise a large portion of human milk and have been known to support development over the first year of life. While research has investigated the impact of early-life supplementation, longer-term supplementation remains relatively unexplored. Consequently, the following study assesses the impact of supplementation of either 3ˊ-SL or 6ˊ-SL on growth performance, tolerance, and brain sialic acid concentrations. Two-day-old piglets (n = 75) were randomly assigned to a commercial milk replacer ad libitum without or with 3ˊ-SL or 6ˊ-SL (added at 0.2673% on an as-is basis). Daily body weight and feed disappearance were recorded to assess growth performance and tolerance. Pigs were euthanized for sample collection on postnatal day 33 (n = 30) or 61 (n = 33), respectively. Across growth performance, clinical chemistry and hematology, histomorphology, and sialic acid quantification, dietary differences were largely unremarkable at either time-point. Overall, SA was well-tolerated both short-term and long-term.

Dietary supplementation of 3′-sialyllactose or 6′-sialyllactose elicits minimal influence on cognitive and brain development in growing pigs

“…In conjunction with Golden et al (2023) , the implications of SL supplementation on brain development were further assessed via anatomical, diffusion-weighted, and myelin-focused images acquired at both PND 30 and PND 58. These time-points have been identified as critical periods of brain development in the pig.…”

“…Pigs had access to electrolytes (Swine BlueLite; TechMix, Stewart, MN or Bounce Back, MannaPro®, LLC, St. Louis, MO) for the first week at PNCL, regardless of diet, to maintain hydration as piglets adapted to the formulas. Outcomes associated with growth performance, fecal consistency, and health status have been described separately ( Golden et al, 2023 ).…”

“…From PND 2-33, all diets were based on a commercial milk replacer product (ProNurse ® Specialty Milk Replacer, Land O’Lakes, North Arden Hills, MN, United States) and supplemented accordingly. From PND 33-61, diets were manufactured as nutritionally adequate and age-appropriate mash diets ( Golden et al, 2023 ). Pure sialyllactose was added at a rate of 0.2673% of the diet on an as-is basis (PND 2-33: 500 mg/L; PND 33-61: 2.673 g/kg).…”

“…As such, for the purposes of this study, dosage was determined by averaging the concentrations of both SL across lactation ( Soyyilmaz et al, 2021 ). Dietary composition and the feeding paradigm utilized is described in detail separately ( Golden et al, 2023 ). All listed experimental procedures were approved by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and were aligned with the National Research Council Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.…”