Inclusion of Oat and Yeast Culture in Sow Gestational and Lactational Diets Alters Immune and Antimicrobial Associated Proteins in Milk.

Barry Donovan,Theresa Casey,Aridany Suarez-Trujillo,Uma K Aryal,Leonard L Williams,Dawn Conklin,Radiah C Minor

doi:10.3390/ani11020497

Abstract

Simple SummaryThis study investigated the impact that supplementing sow’s gestation and lactation feed with oat alone or together with brewer’s yeast has on milk proteins and piglet growth and health. Oat and yeast supplements increased abundance of several milk proteins involved in immune protection. Piglets born from either the oat- or yeast-supplemented sows had decreased incidence of diarrhea after weaning. The average birth weights for piglets born of dams that consumed Oat were significantly greater than those that did not. However, piglets born to sows that consumed yeast in combination with oat weighed less at weaning and gained the least amount of weight post-weaning. These data suggest that oat, and to a lesser extent, yeast, added to maternal diets during gestation and lactation can positively impact milk, growth, and health of offspring but given in combination can potentially negatively affect piglet weight gain.Maternal diet supplementation with pro- and prebiotics is associated with decreased incidence of diarrhea and greater piglet performance. This study investigated the impact adding whole ground oat as a prebiotic, alone or in combination with a probiotic, yeast culture (YC) (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), to sow gestation and lactation rations had on milk protein composition, piglet growth, and incidence of post-weaning diarrhea (PWD). Diets: control (CON), CON + yeast culture (YC) [5 g/kg], CON + oat (15% inclusion rate) (Oat) or CON+ YC [5 g/kg] + Oat (15%) were fed the last 30 days of gestation and throughout lactation (18–21 days). Shotgun proteome analysis of day 4 and 7 postpartum milk found 36 differentially abundant proteins (P-adj < 0.1) in both Oat and YC supplemented sows relative to CON. Notable was the increased expression of antimicrobial proteins, lactoferrin and chitinase in milk of Oat and YC sows compared to CON. The levels of IgA, IgM (within colostrum and milk) and IgG (within milk) were similar across treatments. However, colostral IgG levels in Oat-supplemented sows were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than that of the control sows, IgG from Oat-supplemented sows displayed greater reactivity to E. coli-antigens compared with CON and YC. Piglets from sows that consumed Oat alone or in combination weighed significantly more (p < 0.05) at birth compared to CON and YC. However, piglets in the Oat + YC group weighed less at weaning and had the lowest weight gain (p < 0.05) postweaning, compared with CON. Taken together with the observation that piglets of either YC- or Oat-fed sows had less PWD compared to CON and YC+ Oat suggests that Oat or YC supplementation positively impacts piglets through expression of certain milk-associated immune and antimicrobial proteins.

Highlights

Pork is the most consumed animal globally
Piglets born to dams in the Oat and the Oat + yeast culture (YC) group had an average birth weight of 1.54 ± 0.3 kg and 1.51 ± 0.3 kg, respectively, which was significantly (p < 0.05) heavier than piglets born to the CON 1.27 ± 0.27 kg
Piglets in the YC+ Oat group continued to weigh significantly less than piglets in the CON group throughout the 4-week post-weaning period (Figure 1C) despite no difference in post-weaning feed intake (Figure 1D,E)

Summary

Introduction

Pork is the most consumed animal globally. In 2018, pork accounted for over 40% of the world meat/poultry consumption [1] and despite the recent losses stemming from the novel coronavirus pandemic, the industry remains critical to global meat production and economy [2].To keep pace with the demand for pork, producers often wean piglets between one to three weeks of age [3]. Pork is the most consumed animal globally. In 2018, pork accounted for over 40% of the world meat/poultry consumption [1] and despite the recent losses stemming from the novel coronavirus pandemic, the industry remains critical to global meat production and economy [2]. To keep pace with the demand for pork, producers often wean piglets between one to three weeks of age [3]. This practice is often associated with anorexia, growth retardation, morbidity, and mortality. Piglets weaned before three weeks of age are susceptible to PWD because they lack a fully matured immune system [7]. The stressors introduced by the weaning process, such as separation from their dams and littermates, and changes in environment and nutrition [8,9,10], further weaken an immature immune system [5,11,12,13,14]

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