0
Constipation and systemic inflammation are common in late pregnant and lactating sows, which cause health problems like uteritis, mastitis, dystocia, or even stillbirth, further influencing piglets’ survival and growth. Probiotic supplementation can improve such as issues, but the beneficial mechanism of relieving constipation and enhancing gut motility remains underexplored. This study aimed to investigate the effects and mechanism of probiotic supplementation in drinking water to late pregnant sows on constipation, inflammation, and piglets’ growth performance.
Methods: Seventy-four sows were randomly allocated to probiotic (n = 36) and control (n = 38) groups. The intestinal activity of the sows was monitored at six different time points, i.e., between 100 days of gestation (G100d, G106d, and G113d) and 23 days of lactation (L6d, L13d, and L19d). Sows’ feces were qualitatively evaluated before the daily morning cleaning session and blood and fecal samples of sows were collected at G100d, G113d, and L23d.
Results: Probiotic treatment significantly relieved sow constipation, enhanced serum IL-4 and IL-10 levels while reducing serum IL-1β, IL-12p40, and TNF-α levels, and increased piglet daily gain and weaning weight. Furthermore, probiotic administration reshaped the sow gut bacteriome and phageome structure/diversity, accompanied by increases in some potentially beneficial bacteria. At 113 days of gestation, the probiotic group was enriched in several gut microbial bioactive metabolites, multiple carbohydrate-active enzymes that degrade pectin and starch, fecal butyrate and acetate, and some serum metabolites involved in vitamin and amino acid metabolism.
Conclusion: The probiotic effects were likely achieved through orchestrated responses of the gut bacteriome, phageome, and bioactive metabolites, as well as colonic and systemic metabolism in the late gestation sows.
Ma T, Huang W, Li Y, Jin H, Kwok L Y, Sun Z, Zhang H. Probiotics alleviate constipation and inflammation in late gestating and lactating sows. npj Biofilms and Microbiomes. 2023; 9(1): 70. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-023-00434-z