Pig Research Unit, Agroscope, 1725, Posieux, Switzerland.
Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (DISTAL), University of Bologna, 40127, Bologna, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2024 Apr 30;14(1):9964. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-59950-3.
The Capsule for Sampling (CapSa) is an ingestible capsule that collects small intestine content while transiting through the natural digestive pathway. In this study, 14 Swiss Large White pigs weighing less than 12 kg (Category < 12 kg) and 12 weighing between 12 and 20 kg (Category [12-20 kg]) were given two CapSas and monitored for three days. The animals were euthanized for post-mortem sampling, allowing us to directly obtain gut microbiota samples from the gastrointestinal tract. This post-mortem approach enabled a direct comparison between the microbial content from the gut and the samples collected via the CapSas, and it also facilitated precise identification of the CapSas' sampling sites within the gastrointestinal tract. For the category under 12 kg, only 2.3% of the administered CapSas were recovered from the feces. In contrast, in the 12-20 kg category, 62.5% of the CapSas were successfully retrieved from the feces within 48 h. Of these recovered CapSas, 73.3%-equating to 11 capsules from eight pigs-had a pH > 5.5 and were therefore selected for microbiome analysis. Bacterial composition of the CapSas was compared with that of the three segments of the small intestine, the large intestine and feces of the corresponding pig. The results were tested using a PERMANOVA model (Adonis) including sample type as a factor, and then pairwise comparisons were made. The bacterial composition found in the CapSas differed from that of the large intestine and feces (P < 0.01), while it did not differ from the first segment of the small intestine (P > 0.10). This study provides evidence that the CapSa effectively samples the intestinal microbiota from the upper section of the small intestine in post-weaning pigs. Furthermore, it was found that the collection of CapSas could only be successfully achieved in pigs classified within the heavier weight category.
胶囊取样器（CapSa）是一种可吞服的胶囊，可在通过自然消化途径时收集小肠内容物。在这项研究中，14 头体重小于 12kg（<12kg 类别）的瑞士大白猪和 12 头体重在 12 至 20kg 之间（[12-20kg]类别）的猪被给予两个 CapSa 并监测三天。这些动物被安乐死进行尸检，使我们能够直接从胃肠道获得肠道微生物群样本。这种尸检方法使我们能够直接比较肠道中的微生物含量和通过 CapSa 收集的样本，并且还便于精确识别胃肠道内 CapSa 的取样部位。对于<12kg 类别，仅从粪便中回收了给予的 CapSa 的 2.3%。相比之下，在 12-20kg 类别中，在 48 小时内，62.5%的 CapSa 从粪便中成功回收。在这些回收的 CapSa 中，有 73.3%（相当于 8 头猪的 11 个胶囊）的 pH 值>5.5，因此被选择用于微生物组分析。CapSa 的细菌组成与相应猪的小肠的三个部分、大肠和粪便进行了比较。使用包括样本类型作为因素的 PERMANOVA 模型（Adonis）进行了结果测试，然后进行了两两比较。CapSa 中的细菌组成与大肠和粪便的组成不同（P<0.01），而与小肠的第一段没有差异（P>0.10）。这项研究提供了证据，证明 CapSa 可有效地从小肠的上半部分取样断奶后猪的肠道微生物群。此外，还发现只有在体重较重的类别中才能成功收集 CapSa。
