Postbiotic L. plantarum RG14 improves ruminal epithelium growth, immune status and upregulates the intestinal barrier function in post-weaning lambs

Abstract

We investigate the effects of postbiotic Lactobacillus plantarum RG14 on gastrointestinal histology, haematology, mucosal IgA concentration, microbial population and mRNA expression related to intestinal mucosal immunity and barrier function. Twelve newly weaned lambs were randomly allocated to two treatment groups; the control group without postbiotic supplementation and postbiotic group with supplementation of 0.9% postbiotic in the diet over a 60-day trial. The improvement of rumen papillae height and width were observed in lambs fed with postbiotics. In contrast, no difference was shown in villi height of duodenum, jejunum and ileum between the two groups. Lambs received postbiotics had a lower concentration of IgA in jejunum but no difference in IgA concentration in serum and mucosal of the rumen, duodenum and ileum. In respect of haematology, postbiotics lowered leukocyte, lymphocyte, basophil, neutrophil and platelets, no significant differences in eosinophil. The increase in of IL-6 mRNA and decrease of IL-1β, IL-10, TNF mRNA were observed in the jejunum of lambs receiving postbiotics. Postbiotics also improved the integrity of the intestinal barrier by the upregulation of TJP-1, CLDN-1 and CLDN-4 mRNA. Postbiotic supplementation derived from L. plantarum RG14 in post-weaning lambs enhance the ruminal papillae growth, immune status and gastrointestinal health.

Dietary Postbiotic Lactobacillus plantarum Improves Serum and Ruminal Antioxidant Activity and Upregulates Hepatic Antioxidant Enzymes and Ruminal Barrier Function in Post-Weaning Lambs

“…Supplementation of lambs with probiotic B. licheniformis enhanced antioxidant capacity by elevating the SOD and GPX enzymes, as well as promoted immune function, which beneficially facilitates ruminal fermentation and microbial diversity [20]. This was also proven in our previous studies that postbiotics inclusion in the post-weaning Dorper lambs enhanced immune status and gut health and led to better nutrient utilization and growth performance [11,12].…”

“…Upregulation of tight junction protein genes was observed in the rumen of post-weaning lambs receiving dietary postbiotic. Postbiotic supplementation in the diet of post-weaning lambs was reported to improve the intestinal barrier function simultaneously with improvement in intestinal morphology, microbial population and mucosal immunity [11]. Studies on L. plantarum as feed additives in another species showed improvement of gut barrier function accompanied by a better gut environment.…”

“…The feeding trial was conducted at the Ruminant Unit, Department of Animal Science Research Farm, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Detailed information on management and feeding of post-weaning lambs have been reported in our companion papers [11,12]. Briefly, twelve male lambs (17.3 ± 0.58 kg, 16 weeks old) were randomly divided to the control group (no postbiotic inclusion) and postbiotic group (0.9% (v/w) postbiotic RG14 inclusion).…”

“…In broilers exposed to heat stress, postbiotics inclusion was shown to alleviate the heat stress effects by the greater growth performance, immune status and gut health [9]. Postbiotics use in ruminants was shown to improve the in vitro rumen fermentation and fiber degrading microbial population [10] and enhance growth performance, nutrient utilization, immune status and gut health in post-weaning lambs [11,12].…”

Supplementation of Postbiotic RI11 Improves Antioxidant Enzymes Activity, Upregulated Gut Barrier Genes and Reduced Cytokines, Acute Phase Proteins and HSP70 Gene Expression Levels in Heat-Stressed Broilers

“…It has recently been observed that the dietary supplementation of postbiotics promoted the health and growth performance in broilers [31][32][33], layers [34,35] and piglets [36,37]. More recently, postbiotics have been reported enhancing the growth performance, rumen fermentation, immune status, antioxidant defence system, and gut health in small ruminants [38][39][40]. Under normal environmental temperature, dietary supplementation of postbiotics improved health and growth performance of broilers by promoting their immune status, growth genes expression and gut health as their supplementation significantly improved the intestinal villus, decreased the population of Enterobacteriaceae and faecal pH, and increased the population of lactic acid bacteria [25,[31][32][33]41].…”