Abstract
ABSTRACT This experiment aimed to investigate the effects of a symbiotic, consisting of microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum (MLP) and fructooligosaccharide (FOS) on growth performance, blood immune parameters, and intestinal microbiota in weaned piglets. Ninety weaned piglets were assigned to three dietary groups (CON: basal diet; ANT: basal diet + aureomycin; SYN: basal diet + MLP and FOS) for a four-week trial. Compared to CON, pigs in the SYN group had higher weight gain and feed intake, and lower diarrhea rate (P < .05). Also, pigs in the SYN group had improved plasma IgA and IgG concentrations, and increased (P < .05) numbers of lactic acid bacteria in the colon compared to CON. In conclusion, feeding a synbiotic based on MLP and FOS had beneficial effects on growth performance, plasma immune parameters, and intestinal microbiota, indicating the potential of it to serve as an alternative to feed antibiotics in weaned pig diets.
Highlights
Post-weaning diarrhea mainly relates to intestinal microbiota disorders, resulting in dehydration, fever, slow growth, and reduced feed consumption (Campbell, Crenshaw, & Polo, 2013)
The reasons are that probiotics and prebiotics can synergistically promote growth of animals as well as improve their resistance to infections by equilibrating intestinal microbiota and stimulating the immune system (Fan, Chang, Yin, Wang, & Dang, 2015; Guerra-Ordaz et al, 2013; Liu et al, 2016)
A previous study suggested that synbiotics containing L. plantarum and lactulose increased average daily weight gain (ADG) in weaned pigs (Guerra-Ordaz et al, 2014)
Summary
Post-weaning diarrhea mainly relates to intestinal microbiota disorders, resulting in dehydration, fever, slow growth, and reduced feed consumption (Campbell, Crenshaw, & Polo, 2013). As an alternative feed additive for antibiotics, probiotics claim beneficial effects by relieving intestinal microbiota disorders, decreasing intestinal pathogenic bacteria, promoting growth, and improving feed efficiency (Mappley et al, 2013). The mechanisms underlying these effects include (1) inhibiting pathogenic bacteria from colonizing the gut; (2) producing bacteriocins (Xu, Shen, Wu, & Li, 2017); (3) reducing intestinal pH value; and (4) regulating the immune function (Mata-Haro, Reséndiz-Sandoval, & Hernández, 2014). Lactobacillus plantarum has been certified as one of the most promising feed probiotics with beneficial effects on the gastrointestinal health and growth of weaning piglets (Pieper et al, 2009)
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