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Reducing antimicrobial use in swine production to promote growth and keep high productive indexes is one of the main challenges faced by this industry nowadays. Post-weaning colibacillosis is a highly prevalent disease that frequently requires the use of therapeutic and metaphylactic antibiotics around weaning. However, there is an urgent need to avoid using these drugs due to increased antimicrobial resistance. Different probiotics and prebiotics are effective in preventing or limiting the disease, constituting possible alternatives. Still, there is scarce information regarding the potential benefits of combining both strategies through a synbiotic approach. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of supplementing short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (scFOS) combined or not with live yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sc 47 on weanling pigs challenged with Escherichia coli F4+. For that purpose, ninety-six piglets were allocated to four experimental diets: control; supplemented with scFOS (5 g scFOS /kg); S. cerevisiae Sc 47 (1 YEA g/kg ); or both. Different parameters were included in the study, such as, animal performance, E. coli F4+ detection, fermentation activity, inflammatory biomarkers, and ileal histomorphology.
Results showed that supplementing scFOS was able to reduce the incidence of diarrhea, and both supplements were able to lower counts of EHEC along the gut. Supplementing scFOS was mostly associated with changes in the gut ecosystem and increases in the lactobacilli population, while S. cerevisiae Sc 47 registered increases in the numbers of ileal intraepithelial lymphocytes. The synbiotic mixture showed the lowest diarrhea incidence and fecal scores, benefiting from complementary modes of action and possible synergistic effects due to a hypothesized yeast–LAB cross-feeding phenomenon in the foregut.
In conclusion, these results evidence that supplementing scFOS or Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sc 47 is efficacious to fight post-weaning colibacillosis, and combining both could be beneficial in high-risk scenarios.
Ferreres-Serafini L, Castillejos L, Martín M, Le Bourgot C, Martín-Orúe SM. Looking for Possible Benefits of Combining Short-Chain Fructo-Oligosaccharides (scFOS) with Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sc 47 on Weaned Pigs Orally Challenged with Escherichia coli F4+. Animals. 2023; 13(3), 526. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13030526
