School of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
Department of Health Nutrition and Chemical Engineering, Army Academy of ROC, Taoyuan City 320, Taiwan.
Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Oct 14;25(20):11034. doi: 10.3390/ijms252011034.
During the growth process of weaned piglets, digestive problems such as gastrointestinal disorders and diarrhea are common. Farmers usually use antibiotics to help piglets grow smoothly. However, the overuse of antibiotics can lead to antibiotic resistance issues. Therefore, this study chose to use plant extracts as feed additives to explore their potential as alternatives to antibiotics. Additionally, Tilmicosin was used as the antibiotic because it is widely used in treating respiratory infections in piglets. Since traditional Chinese medicine often uses natural products, we selected Guizhi Li-Zhong (GLZ) extract as an alternative to antibiotics. The experiment involved 126 piglets, each 4 weeks old, which were randomly assigned to one of four groups: the sham group (basal diet without supplements, 10.3 ± 0.4 kg, = 31), the low-dose GLZ group (basal diet with 0.05% GLZ, 10.9 ± 0.4 kg, = 32), the regular-dose GLZ group (basal diet with 0.2% GLZ, 10.6 ± 0.4 kg, = 32), and the regular-dose Tilmicosin antibiotic group (basal diet with 0.2% Tilmicosin, 10.2 ± 0.3 kg, = 31). We recorded and compared the survival rate, growth rate, feed conversion ratio, and diarrhea incidence among four groups of weaned piglets from the 4th to the 10th weeks of age. Then, we examined the oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis in small intestine tissue (jejunum and ileum) through immunohistochemistry and Western blot and compared the gut microbiota in large intestine tissue (colon and rectum) through a next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis. Our results showed that weaned piglets supplemented with 0.05% and 0.2% GLZ had better survival rates, growth rates ( < 0.01), and feed conversion ratios ( < 0.01) compared to those receiving sham treatment. Even weaned piglets supplemented with 0.2% GLZ performed better than those supplemented with 0.2% Tilmicosin antibiotics ( < 0.05). Furthermore, the incidence of diarrhea and small intestine injury (indicated by oxidative stress-, inflammation-, and apoptosis-related proteins) in piglets supplemented with 0.05% and 0.2% GLZ was lower than in piglets receiving sham treatment ( < 0.05). Even piglets supplemented with 0.2% GLZ had less injury than those supplemented with 0.2% Tilmicosin antibiotics ( < 0.05). The NGS results further showed that GLZ treatment significantly improved beneficial bacteria in weaned piglets ( < 0.05), while antibiotic treatment reduced beneficial bacteria ( < 0.05). In summary, we recommend adding GLZ to the feed as an alternative to antibiotics. This not only effectively reduces intestinal damage but also improves the gut microbiota, thereby promoting the growth of weaning piglets.
在断奶仔猪的生长过程中，胃肠道紊乱和腹泻等消化问题很常见。农民通常使用抗生素来帮助仔猪顺利生长。然而，抗生素的过度使用会导致抗生素耐药性问题。因此，本研究选择使用植物提取物作为饲料添加剂，以探索其作为抗生素替代品的潜力。此外，替米考星被用作抗生素，因为它广泛用于治疗仔猪的呼吸道感染。由于中药通常使用天然产物，我们选择了桂枝理中（GLZ）提取物作为抗生素的替代品。该实验涉及 126 头 4 周龄的仔猪，它们被随机分配到四个组之一：假处理组（基础日粮，无补充，10.3±0.4kg， =31）、低剂量 GLZ 组（基础日粮添加 0.05%GLZ，10.9±0.4kg， =32）、常规剂量 GLZ 组（基础日粮添加 0.2%GLZ，10.6±0.4kg， =32）和常规剂量替米考星抗生素组（基础日粮添加 0.2%替米考星，10.2±0.3kg， =31）。我们记录并比较了从第 4 周到第 10 周龄，四组断奶仔猪的存活率、生长率、饲料转化率和腹泻发生率。然后，我们通过免疫组织化学和 Western blot 检测了小肠组织（空肠和回肠）中的氧化应激、炎症和细胞凋亡，并通过下一代测序（NGS）分析比较了大肠组织（结肠和直肠）中的肠道微生物群。我们的结果表明，与假处理组相比，添加 0.05%和 0.2%GLZ 的断奶仔猪具有更高的存活率、生长率（<0.01）和饲料转化率（<0.01）。甚至添加 0.2%GLZ 的断奶仔猪的表现也优于添加 0.2%替米考星抗生素的断奶仔猪（<0.05）。此外，与假处理组相比，添加 0.05%和 0.2%GLZ 的断奶仔猪的腹泻和小肠损伤发生率（通过氧化应激、炎症和细胞凋亡相关蛋白指示）较低（<0.05）。即使添加 0.2%GLZ 的断奶仔猪的损伤也小于添加 0.2%替米考星抗生素的断奶仔猪（<0.05）。NGS 结果进一步表明，GLZ 处理显著改善了断奶仔猪的有益细菌（<0.05），而抗生素处理减少了有益细菌（<0.05）。总之，我们建议在饲料中添加 GLZ 作为抗生素的替代品。这不仅能有效减轻肠道损伤，还能改善肠道微生物群，从而促进断奶仔猪的生长。
