Feeding the Probiotic Enterococcus faecium Strain NCIMB 10415 to Piglets Specifically Reduces the Number of Escherichia coli Pathotypes That Adhere to the Gut Mucosa

Abstract

f Feed supplementation with the probiotic Enterococcus faecium for piglets has been found to reduce pathogenic gut microorganisms. Since Escherichia coli is among the most important pathogens in pig production, we performed comprehensive analyses to gain further insight into the influence of E. faecium NCIMB 10415 on porcine intestinal E. coli. A total of 1,436 E. coli strains were isolated from three intestinal habitats (mucosa, digesta, and feces) of probiotic-supplemented and nonsupplemented (control) piglets. E. coli bacteria were characterized via pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) for clonal analysis. The high diversity of E. coli was reflected by 168 clones. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was used to determine the phylogenetic backgrounds, revealing 79 sequence types (STs). Pathotypes of E. coli were further defined using multiplex PCR for virulence-associated genes. While these analyses discerned only a few significant differences in the E. coli population between the feeding groups, analyses distinguishing clones that were uniquely isolated in either the probiotic group only, the control group only, or both groups (shared group) revealed clear effects at the habitat level. Interestingly, extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC)-typical clones adhering to the mucosa were significantly reduced in the probiotic group. Our data show a minor influence of E. faecium on the overall population of E. coli in healthy piglets. In contrast, this probiotic has a profound effect on mucosa-adherent E. coli. This finding further substantiates a specific effect of E. faecium strain NCIMB 10415 in piglets against pathogenic E. coli in the intestine. In addition, these data question the relevance of data based on sampling fecal E. coli only.

Effect of glutamine and/or probiotic (Enterococcus faecium) feed supplementation on piglet performance, intestines structure, and antibacterial activity

“…Strompfova et al (2006) did not find a lower number of E. coli in any part of the piglet intestines after administration of this probiotic. The results of Bednorz et al (2013) suggest a minor influence of E. faecium on the overall population of E. coli in healthy piglets but it has a profound effect on mucosa-adherent bacteria. The inhibitory effect of E. faecium found in this experiment was observed also by Szaboova et al (2008), who found a decrease of E. coli and Clostridium sp.…”

Feeding of Enterococcus faecium NCIMB 10415 Leads to Intestinal miRNA-423-5p-Induced Regulation of Immune-Relevant Genes

“…Investigations with infants fed Lactobacillus reported a reduced duration of diarrhea (5,6). Studies in pigs showed that Enterococcus faecium NCIMB 10415 reduced the number of mucosa-adherent Escherichia coli pathotypes (7) and that E. faecium reduces Chlamydia loads (8). Those data suggested a potential beneficial effect of the use of E. faecium as a probiotic to reduce infectious diseases.…”

Cross‐talk Between Host, Microbiome and Probiotics: A Systems Biology Approach for Analyzing the Effects of Probiotic Enterococcus faecium NCIMB 10415 in Piglets

“…Intestinal microbial metabolites in ileum digesta 16 T 15 Intestinal microbial metabolites in colon digesta 16 T 16 Intestinal microbiota in stomach digesta 17 T 17 Intestinal microbiota in jejunum digesta 17 T 18 Intestinal microbiota in ileum digesta 17 T 19 Intestinal microbiota in colon digesta 17 T 20 Concentration of cytokines in blood 6 T 21 Gene expression in blood 3 T 22 Gene expression in ileum Peyer's patches 10 T 23 Gene expression in jejunum lymph nodes 7 T 24 Gene expression in jejunum Peyer's patches 10 T 25 Gene expression in liver tissue 2 T 26 Gene expression in spleen tissue 7 T 27 Abundance of lymphocytes in blood 33 T 28 Abundance of lymphocytes in ileum 9 T 29 Abundance of lymphocytes in ileum lymph nodes 16 T 30 Abundance of lymphocytes in ileum Peyer's patches…”

“…p-values, given in brackets, were calculated by permutation tests. Jejunum gene expression 26 days 0.47 0.044 T 18 Intestinal microbiota in ileum digesta 34 days 0.40 0.022 T 22 Gene expression in ileum Peyer's patches 34 days 0.74 0.019 The microbial community in the ileum of 34 days old piglets was also significantly altered by the supplementation with E. faecium NCIMB 10415, as indicated by an enrichment score of ES(T 18 ) = 0.40 (p = 0.022). The target contained 17 variables where 10 variables showed an ANOVA p-value below 0.23 ( Figure 4C).…”

“…[11,12] Moreover, a previous feeding trial identified alterations of intestinal bacterial communities and immune parameters as a reaction to the supplementation of E. faecium NCIMB 10415 to growing piglets. [13] Results from another feeding trial with E. faecium NCIMB 10415 revealed a broad spectrum of effects: increased absorptive and secretory transport capacities, [14] improved intestinal barrier function of jejunum epithelia, [14] a reduced feed conversion ratio, [15] activation of cytotoxic T-cells, [16] but a lack of protection against Salmonella infection, [17] an altered occurrence of pathogenic genes in intestinal Escherichia coli (E. coli) populations [18] and altered expressions of cytokines. [19] These previous studies have described the influence of E. faecium NCIMB 10415 supplementation based on single physiological parameters whereas our current study analyzed a combination of diverse sets of measurement data which have been obtained in an integrative animal model.…”