PSVII-40 Maternal soluble fiber diet during pregnancy influences growth performance, intestinal microbiota and intestinal permeability in piglets.

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of maternal soluble fiber diet during pregnancy on growth performance, gut microbiota composition and metabolism, and gut permeability of suckling piglets. Twenty four Landrace sows were allocated to either control or 2.0% combined soluble fiber (SF) (85.7% pregelatinized waxy maize starch and 14.3% guar gum) supplemented dietary treatment during gestation. All sows were fed the same amount of feed during gestation. Body weights of piglets were individually measured on day 1, 7, 14, and 21 to determine average daily gain (ADG). The occurrence of diarrhea was visually assessed and evaluated by individual scoring the consistency of the faeces each day. The whole suckling period was 21 days. On day 14, one median-weight piglets from each litter (total of twelve piglets/treatment) were selected to collect blood and fecal samples. Gut microbiota composition and metabolism, and gut permeability parameters of 14-day-old suckling piglets were analysed. The data were analyzed using the general linear model procedure of the SAS. All data excepting diarrhea rate were analysed by one-way ANOVA where treatment (CON and SF) was the main factor. The χ2 test was used to test for diarrhea rate. The maternal SF diet improved growth rate and decreased diarrhea incidence of suckling piglets. Next-generation sequencing analysis revealed that the intestinal microbiota composition of suckling piglets was significantly altered by a maternal SF diet. Fecal and plasma levels of acetate and butyrate were also increased. Furthermore, a maternal SF diet significantly reduced the plasma levels of zonulin and endotoxin. The spearman correlation analysis results showed that the increased Lactobacillus in SF piglets were positively correlated with ADG. Our data revealed that maternal soluble fiber diet during pregnancy had significant effects on piglets’ growth performance and intestinal permeability via modulating the composition and metabolism of the gut microbiota.