Stimbiotic Supplementation Alleviates Poor Performance and Gut Integrity in Weaned Piglets Induced by Challenge with E. coli

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of stimbiotic (STB), a xylanase and xylo-oligosaccharide complex. A total of 36 male weaned pigs with initial body weights of 8.49 ± 0.10 kg were used in a 3-week experiment. The experiment was conducted in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement (six replicates/treatment) of treatments consisting of two levels of challenge (challenge and non-challenge) and three levels of STB (0, 0.5, and 1 g/kg diet). Supplementations STB 0.5 g/kg (STB5) and STB 1 g/kg (STB10) improved the G:F (p = 0.04) in piglets challenged with STEC. STB supplementation, which also decreased (p < 0.05) the white blood cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6. Supplementations STB5 and STB10 improved (p < 0.01) the lymphocytes and neutrophils in piglets challenged with STEC on 14 dpi. Additionally, supplementations STB5 and STB10 improved (p < 0.01) the tumor necrosis factor-alpha in piglets challenged with STEC on 3 dpi. Supplementations STB5 and STB10 also improved the villus height-to-crypt depth ratio (p < 0.01) in piglets challenged with STEC. Supplementation with STB reduced (p < 0.05) the expression levels of calprotectin. In conclusion, STB could alleviate a decrease of the performance, immune response, and inflammatory response induced by the STEC challenge.

Effects of dietary supplementation of Pediococcus pentosaceus strains from kimchi in weaned piglet challenged with Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica

“…In our experiment, inoculation with E. coli and SE to induce weaning stress resulted in poor growth performance and diarrhea, respectively. These results are similar to those of a previous study using a harmful bacterial pathogen to inoculate pigs [20]. Intestinal epithelium functions as a barrier of defense and promotes in nutrition absorption [18].…”

Effects of Dietary Supplementation of Stimbiotics to Sows on Lactation Performance, Immune Function, and Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Capacities during Late Gestation and Lactation

“…Of the SCFAs, butyric acid is considered as an important energy source for the intestinal epithelium. In this regard, the extra energy from the sow to the piglet for weight gain was likely from improved dietary fiber utilization with the supplementation of the stimbiotic [ 7 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ].…”

“…Short-chain fatty acids may also inhibit pathogenic bacteria and reduce the inflammatory response and intestinal diseases, which provide multiple beneficial effects on the host’s health and performance [ 4 , 5 ]. Furthermore, previous authors have reported that stimbiotic supplementation was able to reduce the growth of pathogenic bacteria and the inflammatory response, as well as increase the gut integrity, immunoglobulin levels, and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels when the animals were facing several challenges in their feeding environment [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”

Stimbiotics Supplementation Promotes Growth Performance by Improving Plasma Immunoglobulin and IGF-1 Levels and Regulating Gut Microbiota Composition in Weaned Piglets

“…Recent studies reported that STB could be used as a supplement in the diets of monogastric animals to improve their growth performance, reduce the inflammatory response and enhance gut health, especially in young animals [ 16 , 17 ], as a result of the functions of STB to accelerate fibre fermentation and produce SCFAs in the hindgut [ 18 ]. In the present study, we demonstrated that the supplementation of STB in the diet significantly improved body weight, daily weight gain, and daily feed intake of weaned piglets, which was in line with earlier findings that STB significantly improved the growth performance of monogastric animals [ 17 , 18 ]. It is noteworthy that there was no significant difference in FCR, which may be due to the short period of our experiment, and the changes in FCR were not reflected.…”

“…All weaned piglets used in this trial were directly transferred from the same farm without long-distance transportation, and piglets in the farrowing house and nursery house had similar environmental microorganisms and feeding management, which resulted in reduced external stimuli to the piglets. Song et al (2022) demonstrated that STB addition to the diet could alleviate the negative effects on growth performance and gut health when administered Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) orally to weaned piglets [ 17 ]. Thus, further experiments should be conducted under challenging conditions to confirm the effect of STB on the antioxidant capacity of weaned piglets.…”