Abstract
Probiotics have been demonstrated to be useful to enhance gut health and prevent gastrointestinal infections. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the potential of the probiotic strain Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis CECT 7210 (B. infantis IM1) to prevent and fight intestinal disease by using a Salmonella Typhimurium (Trial 1) or an enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli K88 (Trial 2) oral challenge in a weaning piglet model. Seventy-two piglets were used in each trial. After an adaptation period, animals were orally challenged. One animal per pen was euthanized at Days 4 and 8/9 (Trial 1/Trial 2) post-inoculation (PI). Animal performance, clinical signs, pathogen excretion, fermentation, immune response, and intestinal morphology were evaluated. In Trial 1, most parameters responded to the challenge, whereas, in Trial 2, effects were much milder. Consistent effects of the probiotic were detected in both experiments: Reduction of pathogen excretion (P = 0.043 on Day 3 PI, Trial 1) or ileal colonization (33% reduction of animals with countable coliforms; P = 0.077, Trial 2); increases in intraepithelial lymphocytes (P = 0.002 on Day 8 PI in Trial 1, P = 0.091 on Day 4 PI in Trial 2), and improvement of the fermentation profile by increasing butyric acid in non-challenged animals [P challenge × probiotic (interaction) = 0.092 in Trial 1 and P = 0.056 in Trial 2] concomitant with an enhancement of the villus:crypt ratio on Day 8/9 PI (P interaction = 0.091 for Trial 1 and P = 0.006 for Trial 2). Challenged animals treated with the probiotic showed reduced feed intakes (P interaction = 0.019 in Trial 1 and P = 0.020 in Trial 2) and had lower short-chain fatty acid concentrations in the colon (P interaction = 0.008 in Trial 1 and P = 0.082 in Trial 2). In conclusion, this probiotic demonstrated potential to reduce the intestinal colonization by pathogens and to stimulate local immune response. However, effects on feed intake, microbial fermentation, and intestinal architecture showed a differential pattern between challenged and non-challenged animals. Effects of the probiotic intervention were dependent on the structure of the ecosystem in which it was applied.
Highlights
MATERIALS AND METHODSGastroenteritis due to enteric infections occur globally each year, and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli spp. (ETEC) and Salmonella spp. are among the most common bacterial causes of diarrheaassociated morbidity and mortality (CDC, 2013; Lanata et al, 2013), especially in children up to 5 years of age (Payment, 2002; Liu et al, 2012; Kotloff et al, 2013)
The objective of this work is, to demonstrate the potential of a probiotic strain, B. longum subsp. infantis CECT 7210, to enhance gut health at early-life stages and to fight diarrhea-related diseases caused by ETEC K88 or Salmonella by using the weaning piglet as a model
In the second trial (ETEC K88), one death was registered in the challenged + no probiotic (CN) group on Day 4
Summary
MATERIALS AND METHODSGastroenteritis due to enteric infections occur globally each year, and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli spp. (ETEC) and Salmonella spp. are among the most common bacterial causes of diarrheaassociated morbidity and mortality (CDC, 2013; Lanata et al, 2013), especially in children up to 5 years of age (Payment, 2002; Liu et al, 2012; Kotloff et al, 2013). There are well-documented benefits of administering probiotic microorganisms in milk formulas which include improvements in several infections, allergic disorders, diarrhea, and inflammatory diseases (Bin-Nun et al, 2005; Minocha, 2009). Probiotics and their metabolites have been suggested to have an important role in the formation or establishment of a well-balanced, indigenous intestinal microbiota in new-born infants, and adults (Gill, 2003; Salazar et al, 2009) and to be remarkably beneficial in improving microbiota in hospitalized pre-term infants (Schwiertz et al, 2003)
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