Antibiotic-free diet supplemented with live yeasts decreases inflammatory markers in the ileum of weaned piglets

S Bautista-Marín,M Díaz-Muñoz,C Molina-Aguilar,A Aguilera-Barreyro,K Escobar-García,T.C Reis De Souza,G Mariscal-Landín

doi:10.4314/sajas.v50i3.2

Abstract

Emerging bacterial resistance to antibiotics increases the need for effective alternatives to control intestinal inflammation and thus gut disorders in piglets. This study evaluated the effects of including Saccharomyces cerevisiae (strain 1026) and Saccharomyces boulardii (CNCM I-1079) as antibiotic alternatives in the starter diets of pigs on the concentrations of ileal inflammatory markers (nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin-12 subunit p40 (IL-12p40), and villus height. Forty piglets were assigned to four experimental diets, namely basal diet (C−), basal diet with antibiotics (C+), basal diet with S. cerevisiae (Sc), and basal diet with S. boulardii (Sb). At 7 and 14 days post weaning, five piglets per diet group were euthanized to quantify the inflammatory markers and to measure villus height. The C− group exhibited the highest concentration of inflammatory markers and the most atrophied villi. The Sc group had intermediate values for both variables. The C+ group had the lowest values for inflammatory markers and the highest villus height was similar to that of the Sb group, which showed low concentrations of inflammatory markers, although not so low as those of the C+ group. Both yeasts could be used as antibiotic alternatives to reduce the use of antibiotics in pig starter diets. However, S. boulardii CNCM I-1079 supplementation controls inflammation and preserves intestinal mucosa more effectively than S. cerevisiae strain 1026.Keywords: cytokines, pigs, probiotic, Saccharomyces, weaning

Highlights

Weaning is one of the most stressful events in a piglet’s life and can contribute to intestinal and immune system dysfunction, resulting in intestinal bacterial proliferation (Dirkzwager et al, 2005)
The synthesis and release of cytokines are stimulated by bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, and numerous non-infectious stimulants such as allergens, transient anorexia, and other proinflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6), which induce the production of acute phase proteins (McCracken et al, 1999; Naugler & Karin, 2013)
During the first week post weaning, no differences (P >0.05) were observed in average daily gain (ADG) (Table 2) in the second post-weaning week, the highest ADG (P

Summary

Introduction

Weaning is one of the most stressful events in a piglet’s life and can contribute to intestinal and immune system dysfunction, resulting in intestinal bacterial proliferation (Dirkzwager et al, 2005). This increase in bacteria can reduce the health, growth, and feed intake of pigs, during the first week after weaning (Campbell et al, 2013). Bacterial antigens in the intestinal lumen generate an acute inflammatory response through the action of proinflammatory cytokines, which activate a signalling cascade, leading to the release of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), which translocates to the nucleus and serves as a transcription factor for the synthesis of IL-6 and TNF-α (Lawrence, 2009; Fernández-Jiménez et al, 2014).

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