Abstract
The aim of this work was to design a novel mixed probiotic culture for piglets and to evaluate its beneficial effect on the piglets’ gut health. The possible mechanisms of probiotic activity, such as adhesion, competitive pathogen exclusion and influence on gut microbiota diversity were determined. Mixed probiotic starter culture is composed of three thermophilic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains: Lactobacillus helveticus BGRA43, Lactobacillus fermentum BGHI14 and Streptococcus thermophilus BGVLJ1-44. The strains BGVLJ1-44 and BGRA43 showed good technological properties (fast milk curdling, strong proteolytic activity). In addition, the strain BGVLJ1-44 produces exopolysaccharide (EPS), BGHI14 is heterofermentative LAB strain with significant immunomodulatory effect, while the strain BGRA43 showed strong antimicrobial activity against different pathogens and exhibited significantly higher level of adhesion to Caco-2 cells comparing to other two strains. Both lactobacilli strains BGRA43 and BGHI14 (p < 0.05), as well as probiotic combination (p < 0.01) significantly reduced the adhesion of Escherichia coli ATCC25922 to Caco-2 cells, while the strains BGVLJ1-44 (p < 0.01) and BGRA43 (p < 0.05) significantly reduced adhesion of Salmonella 654/7E (veterinary isolate). The results of farm trial revealed that treatment of sows with new fermented dairy probiotic influenced the piglets’ gut colonization with beneficial bacteria and reduced the number of enterobacteriaceae in litters from some treated sows (no significant due to high variability among animals). Finally, this is the first study reporting that the treatment of sows with probiotic combination resulted in the improved microbiota diversity in neonatal piglets.
Highlights
The establishment of gut microbiota immediately after birth is a prerequisite for the healthy animals
The results revealed that only the strain BGVLJ1-44 successfully survived the passage through simulated gastrointestinal tract (GIT) conditions in saline buffer, while the strains L. helveticus BGRA43 survived in simulated GIT conditions only when administered in milk (Figure 1)
10 min exposure to high bile salts concentration decreased the survival of the strain BGHI14 both in saline and milk, while the strain BGRA43 survived only when administred in milk
Summary
The establishment of gut microbiota immediately after birth is a prerequisite for the healthy animals. The probiotic bacteria have a number of beneficial effects, including immunomodulation, pathogen exclusion and positive influence on maintenance of gut microbiota composition. The numbers of studies are intensively engaged in the development of probiotic products for animals, based on the use of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Bacillus sp. It has been shown that feed fermentation can deliver such a combination of probiotic lactobacilli that prevent pathogen adhesion (van Winsen et al, 2001; Yang et al, 2015). Due to the synergistic effects, the mixed-probiotic cultures can be more active against different pathogens, as well as in term of improving the colonic health and nutrition (Umesaki and Setoyama, 2000; Timmerman et al, 2004; Collado et al, 2007)
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