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Gut microbiota absence and transplantation affect growth and intestinal functions: An investigation in a germ-free pig model.

ABSTRACT: This study was conducted to investigate host-microbiota interactions and explore the effects of maternal gut microbiota transplantation on the growth and intestinal functions of newborns in a germ-free (GF) pig model. Twelve hysterectomy-derived GF Bama piglets were reared in 6 sterile isolators. Among them, 6 were considered as the GF group, and the other 6 were orally inoculated with healthy sow fecal suspension as fecal microbiota transplanted (FMT) group. Another 6 piglets from natural birth were regarded as the conventional (CV) group. The GF and FMT groups were hand-fed with Co60-γ-irradiated sterile milk powder, while the CV group was reared by lactating Bama sows. All groups were fed for 21 days. Then, all piglets and then were switched to sterile feed for another 21 days. Results showed that the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and concentrations of short-chain fatty acids in the GF group decreased (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the serum urea nitrogen concentration and digesta pH values in the GF group increased compared with those in the FMT and CV groups (P < 0.05). Compared with the CV group, the GF group demonstrated upregulation in the mRNA expression levels of intestinal barrier function-related genes in the small intestine (P < 0.05). In addition, the mRNA abundances of intestinal development and absorption-related genes in the small intestine and colon were higher in the GF group than in the CV and FMT groups (P < 0.05). The FMT group exhibited greater growth performance, lipase activity, and nutrient digestibility (P < 0.05), higher mRNA expression levels of intestinal development and barrier-related genes in the small intestine (P < 0.05), and lower mRNA abundances of pro-inflammatory factor in the colon and jejunum (P < 0.05) than the CV group. In conclusion, the absence of gut microbes impaired the growth and nutrient digestibility, and healthy sow gut microbiota transplantation increased the growth and nutrient digestibility and improved the intestinal development and barrier function of newborn piglets, indicating the importance of intestinal microbes for intestinal development and functions.

SUBMITTER: Zhou H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8245803 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Cold stress influences intestinal processes, causing physiological and immunological responses in animals. Intestinal microbiota participates in maintaining the stability of the intestinal environment. However, phenotypic characteristics and the effects of porcine microbiota changes under cold conditions remain poorly understood. Here, the fecal microbiota of cold tolerant breed (Mashen) and cold sensitive breed (Duroc-Landrace-Yorkshire) was transferred to germ-free mice, respectively. After a cold exposure (4°C) for 21 days, intestinal function and microbe changes of mice were explored. The results showed that Mashen pigs microbiota transplantation made the body temperature of the mice stable, in which the fat weight and expression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1B (Cpt1b), and Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator (PGC-1α) were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those of the control group. The results of intestinal structure and expression of serum inflammatory factors showed that fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) mice have more intact intestinal structure and high expression of proinflammatory factor such as interleukin-4 (IL-4). The study of mice fecal microbiome characterized via 16S rRNA sequencing found that pig microbiota transplantation changed the abundance of Firmicutes. In addition, it identified discriminative features of Firmicutes in the microbiota between two breeds of pig, in which Clostridiaceae were enriched in the microbiota community of Mashen pig and Coriobacteriales were significantly (P < 0.05) enriched in the Duroc-Landrace-Yorkshire pig microbiota transplantation group based on linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) analysis. Finally, we found that the content of propionic acid and butyric acid in rectal contents significantly changed and the abundances of Clostridium and Lachnospira showed significant correlations with changes in short-chain fatty acids. The results suggest that pig fecal microbiota transplantation can alleviate the changes in physiological and biochemical indicators in mice caused by cold exposure. Mice have gut microbes altered and improved gut barrier function via fecal microbiota transplantation in pigs.

Project description:BackgroundConventional pig housing and management conditions are associated with gastrointestinal pathophysiology and disease susceptibility in early life. Developing new strategies to reduce both therapeutic and prophylactic antibiotic use is urgent for the sustainable swine production globally. To this end, housing methodology providing effective environmental enrichment could be a promising alternative approach to reduce antibiotic usage, as it has been proven to positively influence pig welfare and immune status and reduce susceptibility to infections. It is, however, poorly understood how this enriched housing affects systemic and local pulmonary immune status and gut microbiota colonization during early life. In the present study, we compared the effects of two housing conditions, i.e., conventional housing: (CH) versus enriched housing (EH), on immune status and gut microbiota from birth until 61 days of age.ResultsThe expected benefits of enrichment on pig welfare were confirmed as EH pigs showed more positive behaviour, less aggression behaviour during the weaning transition and better human animal relation during the post weaning phase. Regarding the pigs' immune status, EH pigs had higher values of haemoglobin and mean corpuscular volume in haematological profiles and higher percentages of T cells and cytotoxic T cells in peripheral blood. Furthermore, EH pigs showed higher ex vivo secretion of IL1ß and TNF-α after lipopolysaccharide stimulation of whole blood than CH pigs. The structure of the developing faecal microbiota of CH and EH pigs significantly differed as early as day 12 with an increase in the relative abundance of several bacterial groups known to be involved in the production of short chain fatty acids, such as Prevotella_2, Christensenellaceae_R_7_group and Ruminococcus gauvreauii group. Furthermore, the main difference between both housing conditions post weaning was that on day 61, CH pigs had significantly larger inter-individual variation of ileal and colonic microbiota than EH pigs. In addition to housing, other intrinsic factors (e.g., sex) were associated with gut microbiota development and immune competence.ConclusionsIn addition to the known welfare benefits for pigs, environmentally enriched housing also positively drives important aspects of the development of the immune system and the establishment of gut microbiota in early life. Consequently, EH may contribute to increasing productivity of pigs and reducing antibiotic use.

Project description:Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) documented transplanting a donor fecal sample to a receipt individual for a desired physiologic effect. However, whether the gut microbiota construction, intestinal maturation, and behavioral plasticity are modulated by FMT during the early life of broilers is waiting for verification. To evaluate the role of transfer of fecal microbiota from aged broilers donor (BD) to another individual, 96 birds were equally divided into a check (CK, control) group and a broiler recipient (BR) group. FMT was conducted daily from 5 to 12 days of age to determine the future impact on body weight, behavior, intestinal development, and gut microbiota. Results indicated that fearfulness in the CK group was higher than the BR group in both the behavioral tests (p < 0.05). The muscularis mucosa, thickness of muscle layer, and thickness of serous membrane layer in the BR group were higher compared with those of the CK group in the jejunum (p < 0.05). In the gut microbiota, Shannon diversity showed no difference, while beta diversity presented a difference in principal coordination analysis (PCoA) between the CK and BR groups. At the phylum level, the relative abundance of Lentisphaerae in the CK group was lower than the BR (p = 0.052) and BD (p = 0.054) groups. The relative abundance of Tenericutes in the BD group was higher than that in the CK and BR groups (p < 0.05). At the genus level, Megamonas in the CK group was higher than the BR (p = 0.06) and BD (p < 0.05) groups. In the BR group, the functional capabilities of microbial communities analyzed by the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway were increased in the glutamatergic synapse and N-glycan biosynthesis pathways in comparison with the CK and BD groups (p < 0.05). Some characteristics of gut microbiota in the donor chickens could be transferred to recipient chickens by FMT. In conclusion, exogenous FMT as a probiotic-like administration might be an efficient way to improve the physiology and behavior of chickens. Notably, the role of microbiota for various individuals and periods remains undefined, and the mechanism of microbiota on behaviors still needs further investigation.

Project description:BackgroundGrowth-promoting antibiotics have been banned by law in the livestock and poultry breeding industry in many countries. Various alternatives to antibiotics have been investigated for using in livestock. Epimedium (EM) is an herb rich in flavonoids that has many beneficial effects on animals. Therefore, this study was planned to explore the potential of EM as a new alternative antibiotic product in animal feed.MethodsA total of 720 1-day-old male broilers (Arbor Acres Plus) were randomly divided into six groups and fed basal diet (normal control; NC), basal diet supplemented with antibiotic (75 mg/kg chlortetracycline; CTC), and basal diet supplemented with 100, 200, 400 or 800 mg/kg EM extract for 6 weeks (EM100, EM200, EM400 and EM800 groups). The growth performance at weeks 3 and 6 was measured. Serum, intestinal tissue and feces were collected to assay for antioxidant indexes, intestinal permeability, lactic acid and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) profiles, microbial composition, and expression of intestinal barrier genes.ResultsThe average daily feed intake in CTC group at 1-21 d was significantly higher than that in the NC group, and had no statistical difference with EM groups. Compared with NC group, average daily gain in CTC and EM200 groups increased significantly at 1-21 and 1-42 d. Compared with NC group, EM200 and EM400 groups had significantly decreased levels of lipopolysaccharide and D-lactic acid in serum throughout the study. The concentrations of lactic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid and SCFAs in feces of birds fed 200 mg/kg EM diet were significantly higher than those fed chlortetracycline. The dietary supplementation of chlortetracycline and 200 mg/kg EM significantly increased ileal expression of SOD1, Claudin-1 and ZO-1 genes. Dietary supplemented with 200 mg/kg EM increased the relative abundances of g_NK4A214_group and Lactobacillus in the jejunal, while the relative abundances of Microbacterium, Kitasatospora, Bacteroides in the jejunal and Gallibacterium in the ileum decreased.ConclusionSupplementation with 200 mg/kg EM extract improved the composition of intestinal microbiota by regulating the core bacterial genus Lactobacillus, and increased the concentration of beneficial metabolites lactic acid and SCFAs in the flora, thereby improving the antioxidant capacity and intestinal permeability, enhancing the function of tight junction proteins. These beneficial effects improved the growth performance of broilers.

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Gut microbiota absence and transplantation affect growth and intestinal functions: An investigation in a germ-free pig model.

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