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Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid and a key gut microbial metabolite that maintains intestinal immune homeostasis. It is often used as a feed additive due to its beneficial outcomes on intestinal health. This study hypothesizes that the combination of butyrate and mono-butyrin would reach the hindgut and affect the intestinal microbiota composition and play a better role in regulating sow reproductive performance, gut flora, and health. For that aim, thirty sows (Landrace × Yorkshire) were randomly divided into two groups: the control group and the tributyrin group, which received a basal diet supplemented with 0.05% tributyrin. The experimental period lasted for 35 days from late pregnancy to lactation.
The results showed that tributyrin supplementation significantly shortened the total parturition time and reduced the diarrhoea rate in suckling piglets. On day 20 of lactation, the milk fat and protein levels increased by 9 and 4%, respectively. Tributyrin supplementation significantly improved the digestibility of dry material, gross energy, and crude fat on the sow diet, but had no significant effect on crude protein digestibility. Furthermore, tributyrin supplementation increased the levels of IL-10, IL-6, and IgA in the blood of weaned piglets, but had no effect on maternal immunity. Analysis of the faecal microbial composition revealed that the addition of tributyrin during late gestation and lactation increased the microbiota diversity in sows and piglets. At the phylum level, sows in the tributyrin group had a slight increase in the relative abundance of Bacteroidota and Spirochaetota and a decrease in Firmicutes. At the order level, the relative abundance of Lactobacillales was increased in piglets and sows, and the tributyrin group showed increased relative abundance of Enterobacterales and significantly decreased relative abundance of Oscillospirales in piglets.
In conclusion, tributyrin supplementation shortened the farrowing duration and reduced the diarrhoea rate of piglets by improving the inflammatory response and composition of gut microbiota in piglets and sows.
Lin, Y., Li, D., Ma, Z., Che, L., Feng, B., Fang, Z., Xu, S., Zhuo, Y., Li, J., Wu, D., Zhang, J. & Wang, Y. (2023). Maternal tributyrin supplementation in late pregnancy and lactation improves offspring immunity, gut microbiota, and diarrhea rate in a sow model. Frontiers in Microbiology, 14, 1142174. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1142174
