Dietary Montmorillonite Improves the Intestinal Mucosal Barrier and Optimizes the Intestinal Microbial Community of Weaned Piglets

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of dietary montmorillonite on the growth performance, intestinal mucosal barrier, and microbial community in weaned piglets with control group (CON) and dietary supplementation of 0.2% montmorillonite (0.2% M). Compared with the CON group, 0.2% M feed in the diet increased the average daily gain (ADG) on days 15–35 and day 1–35 and the average daily feed intake on days 1–35 (ADFI) (0.05 < P < 0.1). Besides, higher villus height of the duodenum and jejunum and lower crypt depth of duodenum and colon were revealed in the 0.2% M group than in the CON group (P < 0.05). Moreover, the V/C (ratio of the villus height and crypt depth) in the 0.2% M group was increased compared to that in the CON group both from the duodenum and ileum (P < 0.05). The relative mRNA expression of mucin-1, ITGB1 (β1-integrins), and PKC (protein kinase C) of ileum in the 0.2% M group were upregulated (P < 0.05) compared to that in the CON group. The digesta sample of ileum from piglets in the 0.2% M group contained greater (P < 0.05) intestinal bacterial diversity and abundances of probiotics, such as Streptococcus, Eubacterium_rectale_group, and Lactobacillus, which could promote the synthesis of carbon-containing biomolecules. Overall, dietary supplementation of 0.2% M was shown to have a tendency to improve the growth performance of weaned piglets and may enhance their intestinal mucosal barrier function via altering the gut microbiota.

Modified Montmorillonite Improved Growth Performance of Broilers by Modulating Intestinal Microbiota and Enhancing Intestinal Barriers, Anti-Inflammatory Response, and Antioxidative Capacity

“…Clearly, the supplementation of MMT affected the dominant microbiota. Other studies have showed similar results that dietary MMT can help to maintain gut health by promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria [ 42 ].…”

Coated Zinc Oxide Improves Growth Performance of Weaned Piglets via Gut Microbiota

“…In the present research, ZnO and C_ZnO both elevated the villus height in the foregut, which broadened the intestinal absorption surface area. However, there was no significant difference in crypt depth, which commonly reflected the rate of intestinal renewal and secretion function (22), and the index reflected absorption capacity, the ratio of villus height to crypt depth, was not affected either.…”

Effects of dietary palygorskite supplementation on the growth performance, oxidative status, immune function, intestinal barrier and cecal microbial community of broilers

“…Moreover, based on aforementioned mechanisms, dietary PAL would improve intestinal morphological characteristics through the promotion of mucosal antioxidant status and immunity, or the relief from oxidative stress and inflammatory response. A similar study conducted in broilers revealed that the better mucosal morphology by montmorillonite contributed to the increased nutrient digestibility as well as intestinal defense function, which may be relate to the improvement of the intestinal microecological environment (Liu H. et al, 2020 ). Besides, the shorter villi in birds fed ANT diet may also be correlated with the alteration of bacteria populations (Baurhoo et al, 2007 ).…”

“…Clay minerals have been considered as promising alternatives to AGPs, due to their specific structures, as well as special physical and chemical properties (Gadde et al, 2017 ). Some clay minerals were proposed and tested in animals to improve health status and production performance, such as bentonite (Attar et al, 2018 ), montmorillonite (Liu H. et al, 2020 ) and zeolite (Qu et al, 2019 ). Palygorskite (PAL), also known as attapulgite, is a kind of hydrated magnesium aluminum silicate with ribbons of 2:1 phyllosilicate unit, possessing rod-shaped crystals, plentiful pores, and active silanol groups, which in turn endow it with particular characteristics (Murray, 2000 ; McKeown et al, 2002 ).…”