Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7068, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.
Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7024, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.
Sci Rep. 2021 May 12;11(1):10130. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89560-2.
Gut microbes play an important role in regulating brain processes and influence behaviour, cognition and emotional states in humans and rodents. Nevertheless, it is not known how ingestion of beneficial microbes modulates emotional states in piglets and whether it can improve welfare. Here we use an attention bias task to assess the effects of Lactobacillus reuteri ATCC-PTA-6475 and Lactobacillus plantarum L1-6 supplementation early in life on emotional states in 33 piglets compared to 31 placebo supplemented piglets. We hypothesized that Lactobacillus supplementation would reduce vigilance behaviour (head at shoulder height or higher) and attention (head oriented towards the threat) in response to an auditory threat. The results showed that the control group increased vigilance behaviour in response to the threat, but there was no increase in the probiotics group. Despite the increased vigilance, the control group paid less attention to the threat. One explanation may be that control piglets avoided looking in the direction of the threat just because they perceived it as more threatening, but further research is necessary to confirm this. In conclusion, Lactobacillus supplementation may be a suitable tool to reduce anxiety, promote a more appropriate response to a challenge and so improve welfare.
肠道微生物在调节大脑过程中起着重要作用，影响人类和啮齿动物的行为、认知和情绪状态。然而，目前尚不清楚有益微生物的摄入如何调节仔猪的情绪状态，以及它是否能改善福利。在这里，我们使用注意偏向任务来评估早期生命中补充罗特氏乳杆菌 ATCC-PTA-6475 和植物乳杆菌 L1-6 对 33 头仔猪与 31 头安慰剂补充仔猪的情绪状态的影响。我们假设乳杆菌补充剂会减少对听觉威胁的警觉行为（头部与肩部等高或更高）和注意力（头部朝向威胁方向）。结果表明，对照组在受到威胁时增加了警觉行为，但益生菌组没有增加。尽管警觉性增加了，但对照组对威胁的注意力却降低了。一种解释可能是，对照组的猪只是因为它们认为威胁更大，所以避免看向威胁的方向，但需要进一步的研究来证实这一点。总之，乳杆菌补充剂可能是一种减少焦虑、促进对挑战做出更适当反应从而提高福利的合适工具。
