Project description:Feed additives aiming to improve gastrointestinal health are frequently supplied to piglets after weaning but might be more effective when administered before weaning. In this period, feed additives can either be administered directly to neonates, or indirectly via sow’s feed. It is yet unknown what the effect of the administration route is on gut functionality and health. Therefore, we compared the effect of different dietary interventions on gut functionality after maternal administration (lactation feed) to the neonatal administration route (oral gavage). These feed interventions included medium chain fatty acids (MCFA), beta-glucans (BG), and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS). We measured intestinal gene expression and microbiota composition after birth (d1) and after weaning (d31). Our results show that the type of intervention and the administration route influence gut functionality (microbiome and gene expression profiles). MCFA administration led to a more differentially orchestrated response when comparing the neonatal and maternal administration route then the other two additives, indicating the route of administration of the feed interventions is determinative for the outcome. This implies that for each nutritional intervention in early life of a pig the optimal route of administration needs to be determined.
Project description:<p>Methylmercury is a potent neurotoxin, and the fetal period is the most vulnerable exposure period. There is significant variability in methylmercury metabolism, which has been attributed to differences in the structure and function of the gut microbiome. Our main objective was to better understand the interplay between gut microorganisms and methylmercury metabolism during pregnancy. To address this aim, associations were investigated between maternal biomarkers (blood, hair, stool) for prenatal methylmercury exposure and maternal gut microbiota during early and late gestation.</p>
Project description:We demonstrated that a maternal antibiotic treatment can change intestinal development of the offspring piglets permanently by showing that maternal gestational antibiotic treatment affects intestinal development in offspring piglets for a period of at least seven weeks after the antibiotic treatment in the sows was finished. It was shown that immediately after birth the piglets from amoxicillin treated sows, showed upregulation of genes involved in processes related to ‘tight junctions’ and ‘immunoglobulins’. In addition, these piglets had significantly lower number of goblet cells. Together, this may lead to a gut wall that is more rapidly closed in piglets from amoxicillin treated sows, affecting the uptake of immunoglobulins and the intestinal development. Later in life, around weaning, gene expression and morphological data indicate that the crypts of piglets from amoxicillin treated sows deepen around weaning as an effect of the amoxicillin treatment which in combination with the upregulation of genes involved in cell cycle processes, ribosomal activity and protein degradation might imply that the intestinal development, the subsequent differentiation of cells or the timing of these processes was delayed by the maternal antibiotic treatment.
Project description:Weaning is a very critical period for piglets, typically accompanied by lower feed intake, weight loss after weaning and increased mortality. At weaning, piglets are exposed to many stressors, such as loss of mothering, mixing with other litters, end of lactational immunity, and a change in their environment and gut microbiota. After weaning, morphological and histological changes occur in the small intestine of piglets producing a rapid change of feeding regime which is critical for the immature digestive system. Sixteen female piglets were weaned to assess the effect of sorbic acid supplementation on the small intestine tissue transcriptome. At weaning day (T0), 4 piglets were sacrified and tissue samples collected. The remaining 12 piglets were weighted and randomly assigned to different post weaning (T5) diets. Diet A (n=6) contained 5 g/kg of sorbic acid. Diet B (n=6) is the same as Standard diet. Total RNA was isolated from ileum samples to be analyzed using the a CombiMatrix CustomArrayTM 90K platform . Even though diet had no detectable effect during the first 5 days after weaning, outcomes from this study highlighted some of the response mechanisms to the stress of weaning occurring in the piglet gut. A total of 205 differentially expressed genes were used for functional analysis using bioinformatics through BLAST2GO, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis 8.0, and the Dynamic Impact Aproach (DIA). Bioinformatics analysis revealed that Apoptosis, RIG-I-like and NOD-like receptor signaling were altered as a result of weaning. Results suggest that immune and inflammatory responses were activated and likely are a cause of small intestine atrophy as revealed by a decrease in villus height and villus/crypt ratio. Keywords: weaning, gut, gene expression, sorbic acid, microarray analysis
Project description:Early-weaning-induced stress causes diarrhea, thereby reduces growth performance of piglets. Gut bacterial dysbiosis emerges as a leading cause of post-weaning diarrhea. The present study was aimed to investigate the effect of capsulized fecal microbiota transportation (FMT) on gut bacterial community, immune response and gut barrier function of weaned piglets. Thirty-two were randomly divided into two groups fed with basal diet for 21 days. Recipient group was inoculated orally with capsulized fecal microbiota of health Tibetan pig daily morning during whole period of trial, while control group was given orally empty capsule. The results showed that the F/G ratio, diarrhea ratio, diarrhea index, and histological damage score of recipient piglets were significantly decreased. FMT treatment also significantly increased the colon length of piglets. Furthermore, the relative abundances of Firmicutes, Euryarchaeota, Tenericutes, Lactobacillus, Methanobrevibacter and Sarcina in colon of recipient piglets were increased, and the relative abundances of Campylobacter, Proteobacteria, and Melainabacteria were significantly decreased compared with control group.
Project description:A better understanding of impacts of nutrition during pre- weaning and post- weaning period is needed in order to design feeding strategies that optimize lifetime productivity. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were three-fold: to evaluate nutrition-induced changes of 1) growth from birth to first calving in heifers, 2) its impact on first-lactation milk yield and composition and 3) evaluate nutrition-induced changes in gene expression of mammary gland in Parda de Montaña heifers. Sixteen Parda de Montaña heifers, were randomly but equally assigned at birth to one of four management strategies, in a 2 x 2 factorial experiment. In the pre-weaning period (0-6 months of age), all the heifers suckled their dams twice daily for 30 minutes. Half of the heifers (n=8) were supplemented a starter concentrate (CON) while the other half only had access to their dam’s milk (NOCON). In the post-weaning period (6-15 months), half of the heifers of each pre-weaning feeding treatment received alfalfa hay ad libitum plus concentrates, with a different forage to concentrate ratio (F:C), 67:33 (67F:33C) or 87:13 (87F:13C). Plasma metabolites and hormones concentration at weaning was determined, and cows and their calves weigh was recorded once/week throughout the first lactation, and their ADG was calculated. Milk composition and quantity was determined during the first 4 months of lactation. Mammary tissue samples were taken by biopsy at weaning at the end of first lactation. RNA mammary gland samples (n=16, 8 samples from each treatment) were analyzed by using Bovine Gene 1.1 ST Array Strip. The results of the present study showed that heifers that received concentrate during pre- weaning period had greater BW at weaning when compared to NOCON heifers. Concentrate supplementation during the pre-weaning period increased heifers’ weight gains in the pre-weaning period (P < 0.001) but decreased weight gains in the post-weaning period (P < 0.01) and during pregnancy (P < 0.05). In addition, CON cows had lower milk production throughout the 4 months of the first lactation when compared with NOCON (P < 0.01). Moreover CON cows had decreased milk crude protein, crude fat, lactose, extract and casein content in their first lactation. In addition, cows that received concentrate during pre- weaning period showed greater SCC at the third and fourth month of lactation. Different gene expression patterns were found between CON and NOCON animals. Overall, concentrate supplementation at pre- weaning resulted in up –regulation of genes related with immune response and chemokine activity, suggesting that these animals might be in a compromised immune status, probably being at greater risk to develop mastitis in the later periods.
Project description:Metagenomic and targeted meta-proteomics were used to investigate the mycobiome profile of the infant gut to identify proteins involved during atopic dermatitis manifestation in a Thai population-based birth cohort.
Project description:Gastrointestinal microbes modulate peristalsis and stimulate the enteric nervous system (ENS), whose development, as in the central nervous system (CNS), continues into the murine postweaning period. Given that adult CNS function depends on stimuli received during critical periods of postnatal development, we hypothesized that adult ENS function, namely motility, depends on microbial stimuli during similar critical periods. We gave fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) to germ-free mice at weaning or as adults and found that only the mice given FMT at weaning recovered normal transit, while those given FMT as adults showed limited improvements. RNAseq of colonic muscularis propria revealed enrichments in neuron developmental pathways in mice exposed to gut microbes earlier in life, while mice exposed later – or not at all – showed exaggerated expression of inflammatory pathways. These findings highlight a microbiota-dependent sensitive period in ENS development, pointing to potential roles of the early life microbiome in later life dysmotility.
Project description:Maternal n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) deficiency modulates microglia transcriptional phenotypes and functions. We identified a specific n-3 PUFA-dependent signature of microglia at weaning during mouse brain development. MG550 custom-design NanoString chip was used to identify n-3 PUFAs deficient microglia signature in a maternal model of n-3 PUFAs dietary deficiency at weaning in offspring.
Project description:The transcriptome changes of the ileal mucosa in suckling piglets during early postnatal life were analysed to contribute to the knowledge of a pig’s gut development. In addition, the ileal transcriptome of suckling piglets was compared with that of age-matched weaned piglets (weaned at the age of 21 days) to elucidate the effect of weaning on the developing gut. DNA microarray was used to analyse the change of transcriptome profiles and biological pathways in porcine ileum that occurred during the developmental or the weaning process.