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Dietary fiber is reported to have an important role in improving the intestinal barrier function of the host and maintaining intestinal environment homeostasis by regulating gut microbial composition. These fiber compounds are degraded by intestinal microbiota into oligosaccharides (fructo-oligosaccharides, isomalto-oligosaccharides, galacto-oligosaccharides, and xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS)). Polysaccharides primarily consist of resistant starch, cellulose and hemicellulose, being Arabinoxylan (AX) one of the most abundant hemicellulose in the cell wall of cereal plants. AX can be degraded by gut microbiota into XOS. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of XOS with different polymerizations on growth performance, intestinal barrier function, and gut microbial composition in weaned piglets. For that aim, a total of 144 weaned piglets were assigned to 3 dietary treatments in a completely randomized design according to their body weight and sex. Dietary treatments included a corn-soybean meal basal diet (control) and 2 additional diets formulated with 1% arabinoxylan (AX) and 1% xylo-oligosaccharide (XOS), respectively.
Results showed that dietary supplementation of XOS or AX reduced diarrhoea incidence of weaned piglets compared with the control group. XOS or AX increased the ileal villus height and intestinal activity of antioxidases in weaned piglets compared with the control group. XOS or AX reduced the ileal and colonic IL-6 content and increased the colonic sIgA and IL-10 concentrations in weaned piglets compared with the control group. XOS or AX increased the total organic acids concentrations in the ileum and in vitro fermentation. XOS increased the abundance of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in the ileal digesta, while AX increased the population of Lactobacillus in the ileal digesta and the abundance of Bifidobacterium in the colonic digesta of weaned piglets.
In conclusion, both XOS and AX reduce diarrhoea incidence and improve antioxidant capacity, immune function, and populations of beneficial bacteria, while microbial fermentation of XOS with a lower polymerization and molecular mass can produce more organic acids and an increased abundance of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in the upper gut of weaned pigs compared with AX.
Sun F, Li H, Sun Z, Liu L, Zhang X, Zhao J. Effect of Arabinoxylan and Xylo-Oligosaccharide on Growth Performance and Intestinal Barrier Function in Weaned Piglets. Animals. 2023; 13(6): 964. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13060964
