Abstract
Previous studies have suggested that immune system development and weaning stress are closely related to the maturation of gut microbiota. The early-life period is a “window of opportunity” for microbial colonization, which potentially has a critical impact on the development of the immune system. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) and probiotics are often used to regulate gut microbial colonization. This study aims to test whether early intervention with FMT using fecal microbiota from gestation sows combined with Clostridium butyricum and Saccharomyces boulardii (FMT-CS) administration could promote the maturation of gut microbiota and development of immune system in piglets. Piglets were assigned to control (n = 84) and FMT-CS treatment (n = 106), which were treated with placebo and bacterial suspension during the first three days after birth, respectively. By 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we found that FMT-CS increased the α-diversity and reduced the unweighted UniFrac distances of the OTU community. Besides, FMT-CS increased the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria, while decreasing that of opportunistic pathogens. FMT-CS also enhanced the relative abundance of genes related to cofactors and vitamin, energy, and amino acid metabolisms during the early-life period. ELISA analysis revealed that FMT-CS gave rise to the plasma concentrations of IL-23, IL-17, and IL-22, as well as the plasma levels of anti-M.hyo and anti-PCV2 antibodies. Furthermore, the FMT-CS-treated piglets showed decreases in inflammation levels and oxidative stress injury, and improvement of intestinal barrier function after weaning as well. Taken together, our results suggest that early-life intervention with FMT-CS could promote the development of innate and adaptive immune system and vaccine efficacy, and subsequently alleviate weaning stress through promoting the maturation of gut microbiota in piglets.
Highlights
The immune system of newborn animals is generally considered to be immature, which is closely related to a series of early diseases [1,2,3,4]
By combining the oral administration of fecal microbiota of gestation sows with C. butyricum and S. boulardii in newborn piglets, this study for the first time focuses on the promotion of immune development through improving the gut microbiota of piglets
The results showed that early-life intervention with fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT)-CS significantly increased the alpha diversity of gut microbiota during the suckling period, representing the positive effect of FMT-CS on the development of gut microbiota during the early life period of piglets [39]
Summary
The immune system of newborn animals is generally considered to be immature, which is closely related to a series of early diseases [1,2,3,4]. Promoting the maturation of the intestinal immune system in the early-life period is of great significance for the improvement of growth, development, and disease resistance of neonatal mammals. Gut microbiota plays a vital role in the development and maturation of the intestinal immune system [9,10,11]. There has been increasing evidence suggesting that early intervention of the gut microbiota during the critical “window of opportunity” period may be a promising method to improve intestinal microbial colonization [15,16,17,18]. Early intervention with mature maternal fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) was found to have positive effects on the improvement of growth performance and immunity and decrease diarrhea in the newborn piglet model [20]. The developmental changes in the intestinal microbiota after early intervention remain elusive
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