Understanding intestinal health in nursery pigs and the relevant nutritional strategies

Abstract

In the modern pig production, pigs are weaned at early age with immature intestine. Dietary and environmental factors challenge the intestine, specifically the jejunum, causing inflammation and oxidative stress followed by destruction of epithelial barrier and villus structures in the jejunum. Crypt cell proliferation increases to repair damages in the jejunum. Challenges to maintain the intestinal health have been shown to be related to changes in the profile of mucosa-associated microbiota in the jejunum of nursery pigs. All these processes can be quantified as biomarkers to determine status of intestinal health related to growth potential of nursery pigs. Nursery pigs with impaired intestinal health show reduced ability of nutrient digestion and thus reduced growth. A tremendous amount of research effort has been made to determine nutritional strategies to maintain or improve intestinal health and microbiota in nursery pigs. A large number of feed additives have been evaluated for their effectiveness on improving intestinal health and balancing intestinal microbiota in nursery pigs. Selected prebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics, and other bioactive compounds can be used in feeds to handle issues with intestinal health. Selection of these feed additives should aim modulating biomarkers indicating intestinal health. This review aims to define intestinal health and introduce examples of nutritional approaches to handle intestinal health in nursery pigs.

Modulation of jejunal mucosa-associated microbiota in relation to intestinal health and nutrient digestibility in pigs by supplementation of β-glucanase to corn–soybean meal-based diets with xylanase

“…The AID of DM and GE was negatively correlated with M. sualvi . The bacteria correlated with growth performance, intestinal health, and digestibility related in this study were previously reported by Duarte and Kim (2021) as key microbiota. Considering that growth performance is a multifactorial variable, it can be suggested that the shift of the microbiota should affect other parameters first and then affect growth performance indirectly.…”

“…Furthermore, the mucosa-associated microbiota is greatly susceptible to dietary influence in the small intestine of pigs ( Levesque et al, 2012 , 2014 ). Therefore, considering the digestive functions and the physicochemical properties in the small intestine, Duarte and Kim (2021) have showed that the mucosa of the jejunum could be considered a key site to evaluate the diet, intestinal microbiota, and intestinal health interaction. In this study, increasing levels of β-glucanase within diets containing xylanase reduced the abundance of the proteolytic bacteria H. rappini and increased the abundance of the fiber-degrading families Prevotellaceae , Lachnospiraceae , and Ruminococcaceae .…”

“…Major anti-nutritional roles of xylans and β-glucans are related to their capacity to increase digesta viscosity causing encapsulation of nutrients, thus reducing nutrient digestibility in feeds. In addition, increased digesta viscosity causes reduced passage rate, and thus increased amounts of undigested nutrients provide luminal environment for the proliferation of harmful microbiota ( McDonald et al, 2001 ; Wellock et al, 2008 ; Metzler-Zebeli et al, 2010 ; Agyekum and Nyachoti, 2017 ) resulting in intestinal immune response, oxidative stress, and eventually reduced growth performance ( Chen et al, 2020 ; Duarte et al, 2020 ; Kim and Duarte, 2021 ). These effects can be even more pronounced in nursery pigs due to their inability to adapt to dietary challenges as well as their limited capability of handling NSP ( Lindberg, 2014 ; Niu et al, 2015 ).…”

Nutritional and functional values of lysedCorynebacterium glutamicumcell mass for intestinal health and growth of nursery pigs

“…The carbohydrates, including PGN and TA, in the cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria can be used as sources of energy by intestinal microbiota and affect the diversity of the gut microbiota in humans and pigs ( Kaoutari et al, 2013 ; Kogut and Arsenault, 2016 ). High diversity is usually correlated with healthy status ( Bhandari et al, 2008 ; Fouhse et al, 2016 ; Kim and Duarte, 2021 ). However, in this study, the highest diversity was associated with the highest abundance of potential harmful bacteria and highest immune response.…”

— Editorial — Glancing at the major issues of the Animal Bioscience Forum 2020

“…The second article, entitled 'Understanding intestinal health in nursery pigs and the relevant nutritional strategies' , by Kim and Duarte [2] discussed how piglets weaned at an early age with immature intestine (jejunum in particular) respond to dramatic changes in dietary and environmental factors. The study explained the challenges of maintaining a healthy status and growth potential of nursery piglets and defining biomarkers.…”