Larsen Christina, Andersen Amanda B, Sato Helena, Brunse Anders, Thymann Thomas
Department of Veterinary and Animal Science, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
Front Vet Sci. 2023 Mar 16;10:1110128. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1110128. eCollection 2023.
Post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) remains a major source of mortality and morbidity in swine production. Transplantation of bacteria-free filtrate of feces (fecal filtrate transplant, FFT) has shown gut protective effects in neonatal pigs, and early postnatal establishment of the gut microbiome is suggested to determine later stability and robustness of the gut. We, therefore, hypothesized that early postnatal transplantation of bacteria-free feces would have a protective effect against PWD. Using fecal filtrates derived from healthy lactating sows, we compared oral administration of fecal filtrate transplantation (FFT, n = 20) and saline (CON, n = 18) in newborn piglets. We assessed growth, diarrhea prevalence, blood parameters, organ measurements, morphology, and gut brush border enzymes and analyzed luminal bacterial composition using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. The two groups showed similar average daily gain (ADG) during the suckling period, whereas in the post-weaning period, a negative ADG was observed in both groups. While diarrhea was largely absent in both groups before weaning, there was a lower diarrhea prevalence on days 27 ( = 2.0710), 28 ( = 0.04), and 35 ( = 0.04) in the FFT group relative to CON. At weaning on day 27, the FFT group had higher numbers of red blood cells, monocytes, and lymphocytes, while on day 35, i.e., 1 week after weaning, the two groups were similar regarding hematology. The biochemical profile was largely similar between FFT and CON on days 27 and 35, except for a higher level of alanine aminotransferase and a lower level of Mg in the FFT group. Likewise, organ weights relative to body weight were largely similar on day 35, albeit with a lower stomach weight and more colon content in FFT relative to CON. Gut mucosal percentage and mucosal enzyme activity were similar between the two groups on days 27 and 35. Gut bacterial composition was slightly different on day 35 but not on day 27. In conclusion, early postnatal administration of FFT, showed positive clinical effects in post-weaning pigs, albeit with subtle effects on the gut mucosa and microbiome. Prophylactic treatment with FFT may offer a means to reduce morbidity, yet larger studies are required to document effect size.
断奶后腹泻（PWD）仍然是生猪生产中死亡率和发病率的主要来源。粪便无细菌滤液移植（粪便滤液移植，FFT）已在新生仔猪中显示出肠道保护作用，并且有人提出产后早期肠道微生物群的建立决定了肠道后期的稳定性和强健性。因此，我们假设产后早期移植无细菌粪便对PWD具有保护作用。我们使用来自健康泌乳母猪的粪便滤液，比较了新生仔猪口服粪便滤液移植（FFT，n = 20）和生理盐水（CON，n = 18）的情况。我们评估了生长情况、腹泻发生率、血液参数、器官测量值、形态以及肠道刷状缘酶，并使用16S rRNA基因扩增子测序分析了肠腔细菌组成。两组在哺乳期的平均日增重（ADG）相似，而在断奶后时期，两组均观察到负的ADG。虽然两组在断奶前基本没有腹泻，但与CON组相比，FFT组在第27天（P = 2.0710）、第28天（P = 0.04）和第35天（P = 0.04）的腹泻发生率较低。在第27天断奶时，FFT组的红细胞、单核细胞和淋巴细胞数量较多，而在第35天，即断奶后1周，两组在血液学方面相似。在第27天和第35天，FFT组和CON组的生化指标在很大程度上相似，只是FFT组的丙氨酸转氨酶水平较高，镁水平较低。同样，在第35天，相对于体重的器官重量在很大程度上相似，尽管FFT组的胃重量较低，结肠内容物较多。在第27天和第35天，两组的肠道黏膜百分比和黏膜酶活性相似。在第35天肠道细菌组成略有不同，但在第27天没有差异。总之，产后早期给予FFT对断奶后仔猪显示出积极的临床效果，尽管对肠道黏膜和微生物群的影响较为细微。FFT预防性治疗可能提供一种降低发病率的方法，但需要更大规模的研究来记录效应大小。
