Nowland Tanya L, Torok Valeria A, Low Wai Y, Plush Kate J, Barton Mary D, Kirkwood Roy N
School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Roseworthy 5371, Australia.
Food Sciences, South Australian Research and Development Institute, Waite Campus, Urrbrae 5064, Australia.
Life (Basel). 2020 Sep 15;10(9):203. doi: 10.3390/life10090203.
Weaning is a stressful time for piglets, often leading to weight loss and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. A leading cause for these post-weaning problems is enteric dysbiosis and methods to improve piglet health at this crucial developmental stage are needed. This study aimed to determine whether an enteric dysbiosis caused by weaning could be corrected via a faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from healthy piglets from a previous wean. Two or four focal piglets per litter were assigned to one of two treatments; FMT two days post weaning ( = 21; FMT) or a control which received saline two days post weaning ( = 21; CON). FMT consisted of homogenised donor faeces administered orally at 3 mL/kg. Weaning occurred at 18 days of age and weights and faecal samples were collected on days 18, 20, 24 and 35. 16S rRNA amplicon analysis was used to assess the faecal microbiota of piglets. FMT increased Shannon's diversity post weaning ( < 0.001) and reduced the scratch score observed at 24 days of age ( < 0.001). The bacterial populations significantly differed in composition at each taxonomic level. In FMT pigs, significant increases in potentially pathogenic were observed. However, increases in beneficial bacteria and genera and were also observed in FMT treated animals. To our knowledge, this is the first study to observe a significant effect on piglet faecal microbiota following a single FMT administered post weaning. Therefore, FMT post weaning can potentially alleviate enteric dysbiosis.
断奶对仔猪来说是一个压力较大的时期，常常导致体重下降，且与发病率和死亡率的增加有关。这些断奶后问题的一个主要原因是肠道菌群失调，因此需要采取方法来改善仔猪在这个关键发育阶段的健康状况。本研究旨在确定断奶引起的肠道菌群失调是否可以通过移植来自前一批断奶健康仔猪的粪便微生物群（FMT）来纠正。每窝选取两只或四只重点仔猪，分配到两种处理方式之一；断奶后两天进行粪便微生物群移植（n = 21；FMT组）或断奶后两天接受生理盐水处理的对照组（n = 21；CON组）。粪便微生物群移植包括以3 mL/kg的剂量口服匀浆后的供体粪便。仔猪在18日龄时断奶，并在第18、20、24和35天收集体重和粪便样本。采用16S rRNA扩增子分析来评估仔猪的粪便微生物群。粪便微生物群移植增加了断奶后的香农多样性（P < 0.001），并降低了24日龄时观察到的抓挠评分（P < 0.001）。在每个分类水平上，细菌种群的组成存在显著差异。在接受粪便微生物群移植的仔猪中，观察到潜在致病菌显著增加。然而，在接受粪便微生物群移植处理的动物中，有益菌属和也有所增加。据我们所知，这是第一项观察到断奶后单次进行粪便微生物群移植对仔猪粪便微生物群有显著影响的研究。因此，断奶后进行粪便微生物群移植可能会缓解肠道菌群失调。
