Abstract
To evaluate the effects of lactylate and Bacillus subtilis on growth performance, complete blood cell count, and microbial changes, 264 weaning pigs were assigned to four treatments (1) control (Con) basal diets that met the nutrient requirement for each phase, (2) 0.2% lactylate (LA), (3) 0.05% Bacillus subtilis strains mixtures (BM), or (4) the combination of LA and BM (LA+BM) added to the control basal diet at their respective inclusion rates in each of the three phases. Dietary lactylate tended to increase weight gain, significantly increased feed intake, and reduced fecal total E. coli and enterotoxigenic E. coli counts during Phase 1. Pigs fed Bacillus subtilis had a greater gain to feed ratio (G:F) during Phases 1 and 2. Pigs fed lactylate had an increased peripheral absolute neutrophil count on D14 but a decreased eosinophil percentage. Pigs fed Bacillus subtilis had an elevated peripheral total white blood cell count at study completion. The addition of lactylate increased microbiota richness, reduced E. coli, and increased Prevotella, Christensenellaceae, and Succinivibrio. Bacillus subtilis supplementation-enriched f_Ruminococcaceae_unclassified and S24-7_ unclassified had positive relationships with feed efficiency. Collectively, these findings suggested that lactylate can be added to diets to balance gut microbiota and improve growth performance during the early postweaning period. The combination of lactylate and Bacillus subtilis strains exerted a synergic effect on the growth performance of nursery pigs.
Highlights
Postweaning is the most challenging period of life for swine because environmental changes and diet formulations force the reprogramming of the digestive system and the gut microbiota community [1,2]
C14 lactylates were detected at around 125 and 15 ng/mL, respectively, in pigs fed a diet supplemented with lactylates throughout the study (Table S2)
Plasma C12 and C14 lactylates in pigs fed 0.2% LA were higher at the end of Phases 2 and 3 than Phase
Summary
Postweaning is the most challenging period of life for swine because environmental changes and diet formulations force the reprogramming of the digestive system and the gut microbiota community [1,2]. Under this circumstance, the ecological balance of gut microbiota can be severely disturbed, and piglets can become very susceptible to pathogens that cause diarrhea, morbidity, and mortality [3]. Most strategies for addressing weaning stressors are gut-microbiota-associated [5,6] This is because the gut microbiota have a multitude of functions in host defense, such as nutrient metabolism, energy replenishment, and establishing gastrointestinal barrier integrity [7,8]
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