Effects Of Supplemental Clostridium Butyricum On Growth Performance And Immune Response Of Weaned Piglets

Weanling pigs,with immature immune system and physiological function,usually experience post-weaning diarrhea.This study determined the effects of different digestibility dietary Clostridium butyricum(C.butyricum)supplementation on growth performance,diarrhea and immunity of weaned pigs challenged with lipopolysaccharide(LPS).In Exp.1,the study determined the effects of highly digestible dietary Clostridium butyricum(C.butyricum)supplementation on growth performance.144 piglets were weaned at 21 d and randomly assigned to six groups,with six replicates per group and four pigs per replicate,receiving a control diet(CON)or diet supplemented with antibiotics(AB)or C.butyricum(CB)(0.1%,0.2%,0.4%,or 0.8%).All diets in Exp.1 were a highly digestible basal diet,with 3000 mg/kg zinc oxide in the first 2 weeks only.In Exp.2,the study determined the effects of low digestible dietary Clostridium butyricum(C.butyricum)supplementation on growth performance.180 piglets were weaned at 21 d and randomly assigned to five groups,with six replicates per group and six pigs per replicate,receiving CON,AB or CB(0.2%,0.4%,or 0.6%)diets.The digestibility of diets was lower than those in Exp.1,and did not include zinc oxide.In Exp.3,the study was to determine the effects of low digestible dietary Clostridium butyricum(C.butyricum)supplementation on immunity of weaned pigs challenged with lipopolysaccharide(LPS).At 36 d of Exp.2,12 piglets were selected from each of the CON and 0.4% CB groups,six piglets were intraperitoneally injected with LPS(50 μg/kg BW)and the other six piglets with saline;animals were killed at 4 h after injection to collect blood,intestine,and digesta samples for biochemical analysis.In Exp.1,CB and AB diets had no effect on the growth performance of piglets.In Exp.2,0.4% CB decreased feed-gain ratio(P < 0.1),diarrhea score(P < 0.05),and increased duodenal,jejunal,and ileal villus height and jejunal villus height/crypt depth(P < 0.05).The 0.4% CB decreased the plasma tumor necrosis factor(TNF)α(P < 0.05)but increased ileal mucosa IL-10 and TLR2 mRNA expression(P < 0.05).Furthermore,0.4% CB altered the microbial profile,with Bacillus and Ruminococcaceae UGG-003 at genus level and Lactobacillus casei and Parasutterella secunda at species level were higher than CON in colonic content(P < 0.05).In conclusion,dietary C.butyricum supplementation had positive effects on growth performance of weaned piglets with less digestible diets.There was a tendency to reduce the feed-gain ratio,which could reduce feed costs in pig production.Moreover,C.butyricum decreased post-weaning diarrhea by improving the intestinal morphology,intestinal microflora profile,and immune function.