Laminarin-rich extract improves growth performance, small intestinal morphology, gene expression of nutrient transporters and the large intestinal microbial composition of piglets during the critical post-weaning period

Abstract

The identification of natural bioactive compounds which can prevent the post-weaning growth check and enhance gastrointestinal health in the absence of in-feed medications is an urgent priority for the swine industry. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effects of increasing dietary inclusion levels of laminarin in the first 14 d post-weaning on pig growth performance and weaning associated intestinal dysfunction. At weaning, ninety-six pigs (8·4 (sd 1·09) kg) (meatline boars × (large white × landrace sows)) were blocked by live weight, litter and sex and randomly assigned to: (1) basal diet; (2) basal + 100 parts per million (ppm) laminarin; (3) basal + 200 ppm laminarin and (4) basal + 300 ppm laminarin (three pigs/pen). The appropriate quantity of a laminarin-rich extract (65 % laminarin) was added to the basal diet to achieve the above dietary inclusion levels of laminarin. After 14 d of supplementation, eight pigs from the basal group and the best-performing laminarin group were euthanised for sample collection. The 300 ppm laminarin group was selected as this group had higher ADFI compared with all other groups and higher ADG than the basal group (P < 0·05). Laminarin supplementation increased villus height in the duodenum and jejunum (P < 0·05). Laminarin supplementation increased the expression of SLC2A8/GLUT8 in the duodenum, SLC2A2/GLUT2, SLC2A7/GLUT7, SLC15A1/PEPT1 and FABP2 in the jejunum and SLC16A1/MCT1 in the colon. Laminarin supplementation reduced Enterobacteriaceae numbers in the caecum (P < 0·05) and increased lactobacilli numbers (P < 0·05), total volatile fatty acid concentrations and the molar proportions of butyrate (P < 0·01) in the colon. In conclusion, 300 ppm laminarin from a laminarin-rich extract has potential, as a dietary supplement, to improve performance and prevent post-weaning intestinal dysfunction.

Effects of reducing dietary crude protein concentration and supplementation with laminarin or zinc oxide on the faecal scores and colonic microbiota in newly weaned pigs

“…The LCP diets were supplemented with synthetic lysine, methionine, threonine, tryptophan and valine in order to meet the NRC (2012) requirements. The concentration of laminarin was based on previous work by Rattigan et al (2020). The laminarin-rich extract was sourced from BioAtlantis Ltd (Clash Industrial Estate, Tralee, Co.) and was produced in a single extraction from Laminaria spp.…”

“…Laminarin is composed of 1,3-linked β-D-glucose residues with different degrees of branching at β-(1,6) (Rioux, Turgeon, & Beaulieu, 2010). Laminarin has demonstrated bacterial-modulating activities, including reductions in caecal Enterobacteriaceae (Lynch, Sweeney, Callan, O'Sullivan, & O'Doherty, 2010;Rattigan et al, 2020), colonic attaching and effacing E. coli (AEEC;, the shedding of enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) post-challenge (Stuyven et al, 2009) and increased colonic and faecal lactobacilli (Heim et al, 2014;Rattigan et al, 2020).…”

“…Supplementation with laminarin also reduced branched chain fatty acids (BCFA; Lynch et al, 2010) in finisher pigs and increased colonic butyrate (Rattigan et al, 2020) in weaned pigs. These observations suggest laminarin has the potential to enhance the large intestinal microbiota and its fermentation activity.…”

Effect of a Laminarin Rich Macroalgal Extract on the Caecal and Colonic Microbiota in the Post-Weaned Pig

“…The addition of laminarin to the diet of pigs in the post weaning period had beneficial effects on animal performance and had an influence the production of volatile fatty acids. These beneficial effects have been discussed in detail in the work of Rattigan et al [20] and therefore, will not be discussed extensively in this paper where the focus will be on the effects on the bacterial population. Consistent with previous studies, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes were the three most dominant phyla in the weaned pigs, with Bacteroidetes being most abundant [21][22][23].…”

“…Piglets were weighed and blocked across houses on the basis of initial live weight (8.4 kg, sd-1.1 kg) litter of origin and sex and assigned to one of two groups: (1) basal diet; and (2) basal diet + 300 ppm of a laminarin rich extract. This inclusion level was determined based on previous work by Rattigan et al [20], where supplementation at 300 ppm improved animal performance and digestive health. The basal diet contained 15.3 MJ/kg digestible energy, 190 g/kg crude protein and 13.5 g/kg total lysine.…”