Humoral and cellular factors of maternal immunity in swine

The objective was to study the effect of maternal supplementation with a yeast cell wall-based product containing a mannan-rich fraction (MRF) during gestation and lactation on piglet intestinal gene expression. First parity sows were fed experimental gestation and lactation diets with or without MRF (900 mg/kg). After farrowing, piglets were fostered within treatment, as necessary. Sow and litter production performance data were collected until weaning. On day 10 post farrowing, jejunum samples from piglets were collected for gene expression analysis using the Affymetrix Porcine GeneChip array. Most performance parameters did not differ between the treatments. However, protein ( P < 0.01), total solids less fat ( P < 0.03) and the concentration of immunoglobulin G (IgG) in milk were greater ( P < 0.05) in the MRF-supplemented group. Gene expression results using hierarchical clustering revealed an overall dietary effect. Further analysis elucidated activation of pathways involved in tissue development, functioning and immunity, as well as greater cell proliferation and less migration of cells in the jejunum tissue. In conclusion, feeding the sow MRF during pregnancy and lactation was an effective nutritional strategy to bolster colostrum and milk IgG that are essential for development of piglet immune system and gut. In addition, the gene expression patterns affected by the passive immunity transfer showed indicators that could benefit animal performance long term.Keywords: yeast cell wall, pig, microarray, immunity, intestine ImplicationsSupplementing the sow during gestation and lactation with a yeast cell wall-based product containing a mannan-rich fraction was shown to be an effective nutritional strategy to improve immunity transfer from the sow to piglets. Through nutritional supplementation to the sow, a greater concentration of antibodies was transferred via colostrum and milk to piglets during the critical neonatal period. This enhanced transfer could be expected to improve piglet immunocompetence leading to increased survival rate. In addition, sow diet altered transcript profiles in neonatal intestine to promote proper gut development essential for nutrient absorption suggesting potential long-term performance benefits. IntroductionNutritional strategies to improve neonatal animal performance are fundamental to improve overall animal productivity. Low level antibiotics were historically used to improve performance; however, probiotics and prebiotics have gained considerable attention as performance-enhancing alternatives. Alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters include supplemental yeast and yeast derived products that are beneficial to animal health, growth and performance (van der Peet-Schwering et al., 2007;Shen et al., 2011;Zhao et al., 2012). Mannan oligosaccharide, a family of yeast cell wall containing a mannan-rich fraction (MRF) derivatives, have gained attention for their value and role in immune modulation in swine species (Nochta et al., 2009;Czech et al., 2010;Che et al., 2011;Che et...

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Intestinal gene expression profiles of piglets benefit from maternal supplementation with a yeast mannan-rich fraction during gestation and lactation

Graugnard

Samuel

Xiao

et al. 2015

“…Despite this relationship, it is still unclear whether the high uptake of immunoglobulins with the colostrum directly stimulates the development of active immunity. The colostrum also contains maternal lymphoid cells, which participate in the active immunity of the piglets (Tuboly et al, 1988), and many immune modulators, such as cytokines, which may participate in the maturation of the neonate immune system (Salmon et al, 2009). Therefore, although the mechanisms still have to be determined, it is most likely that the acquisition of good passive immunity via the consumption of colostrum stimulates the development of the piglet's active immunity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of colostrum intake on piglet survival and immunity

Devillers

Dividich

Prunier

2011

228

154

Colostrum intake from birth to 24 h after the onset of parturition ( T 24 ) was estimated for 526 piglets from 40 litters. Plasma concentrations of immunoglobulin G (IgG), lactate, glucose and cortisol were determined at T 24 for six piglets per litter. Plasma IgG concentration was also assayed at weaning (28 days) on the same piglets. Rectal temperature was measured at T 24 on all piglets. Mortality was recorded until weaning and comparisons were made between piglets that died before weaning and those that were still alive at weaning. The piglets that died before weaning had lower birth weight, lower colostrum intake, lower weight gain between birth and T 24 , and had a lower rectal temperature, higher plasma cortisol concentration and lower plasma IgG and glucose concentrations at T 24 than piglets still alive at weaning. In addition, a higher proportion of piglets that died before weaning had difficulty taking their first breath after birth and were affected by splayleg. Considering all piglets, colostrum intake was positively related to rectal temperature and plasma glucose concentration and negatively related to plasma cortisol concentration at T 24 . Plasma IgG concentration at T 24 was explained by colostrum intake, IgG concentration in the ingested colostrum, birth weight and birth rank (P , 0.0001). Plasma IgG concentration at weaning was related to plasma IgG concentration at T 24 (r 5 0.54; P , 0.0001) and to colostrum intake (r 5 0.32; P , 0.0001). Finally, body weight was explained by colostrum intake, birth weight and age until 6 weeks of age (P , 0.0001). These results show that colostrum intake is the main determinant of piglet survival through provision of energy and immune protection and has potential long-term effects on piglet growth and immunity.

“…The major causes of piglets mortality in early postnatal life are lower BW, inadequate colostrum intake, hypothermia and hypoglycemia (Dividich et al, 2005). Piglets are born without an active adaptive immune system and, due to intrauterine placental barriers, with no maternal antibodies, which makes them dependent on innate immune responses and uptake of passive maternal immunity (Rooke and Bland, 2002;Salmon et al, 2009). The concentration of IgG in the plasma of piglets shortly after birth is positively correlated with survival and, in addition, dead piglets have lower serum IgG concentration than their surviving fellow piglets, indicating low colostrum intake (Vallet et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of Brix refractometer to estimate colostrum immunoglobulin G content and composition in the sow

Hasan

Junnikkala

Valros

et al. 2016

Colostrum is an essential source of immunoglobulin G (IgG) for neonate piglets. However, colostrum IgG content and nutritional composition can vary considerably among sows due to age, parity, feeding regime and immunological background. Currently, there is no practical way to obtain information about colostrum IgG concentration at herd level. We evaluated sows' colostrum IgG content on-farm using a Brix refractometer and its performance was compared with that of an IgG ELISA. In addition, nutritional compositions of the colostrum samples were analyzed using Fourier transform IR spectroscopy. Colostrum samples (5 to 6 ml) ( n = 153) were obtained within 0 to 3 h of farrowing. However, to obtain a 24 h IgG profile for 11 sows, colostrum samples were collected at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 16 and 24 h after farrowing. A 0.3 ml of freshly drawn colostrum sample was used for the on-farm measurement of Brix percentages using a digital refractometer shortly after collection. The remaining fractions of the samples were frozen and submitted to laboratory analysis for total IgG, using a commercially available pig IgG ELISA kit. For nutritional composition analysis, a 35 ml colostrum sample (n = 34) was obtained immediately after birth of first piglet from the first three pairs of frontal teats. Colostrum concentrations of IgG averaged 52.03 ± 30.70 mg/ml (mean ± SEM) at 0 to 3 h after farrowing. Concentration of IgG decreased on average by 50% during the 1st day of lactation ( P < 0.01). Sow parity did not influence colostrum concentrations of IgG. Differences in colostrum composition were recorded between two herds and among the parity groups ( P < 0.05). The Brix refractometer measurement of colostrum and the corresponding log transformed IgG measurements from the ELISA were moderately correlated ( r = 0.63, P < 0.001, n = 153). Based on the classification we suggest here, low levels of IgG (14.5 ± 1.8 mg/ml) were recorded for colostrum samples with Brix readings below 20%. Borderline colostrum IgG content (43.8 ± 2.3 mg/ml) had Brix readings of 20% to 24%, adequate colostrum IgG content (50.7 ± 2.1 mg/ml) had Brix % readings of 25% to 29% and very good IgG colostrum content (78.6 ± 8.4 mg/ml) had Brix readings >30%. Colostrum IgG concentration is highly variable among sows, Brix measurement of a sows' fresh colostrum is an inexpensive, rapid and satisfactorily accurate method of estimating IgG concentration, providing indication of differentiation between good and poor IgG content of colostrum.