Zhang Yuwei, Liu Shiya, Zhou Qiang, Liu Yang, Hu Liang, Zhang Ruinan, Fang Zhengfeng, Lin Yan, Xu Shengyu, Feng Bin, Zhuo Yong, Wu De, Che Lianqiang
Key Laboratory of Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of Sichuan Province, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China.
College of Food Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, China.
Front Vet Sci. 2025 Apr 14;12:1565039. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1565039. eCollection 2025.
Along with the increasing litter sizes in pig industry, using milk replacer (MR) as a nutrient supplement has been widely practiced, yet the effects of replacing sow milk (SM) with MR on growth and development of piglets remain unclear. This study evaluated the differential effects of MR versus SM on growth performance, body composition, muscle fiber types, and intestinal health of piglets during the neonatal and nursery periods. Forty 2-day-old piglets, selected from 10 healthy sows, were randomly divided into two groups receiving either SM or MR ad libitum until postnatal day 23 (PND 23), then transitioned to be fed with nursery diet until PND 37. Blood, muscle, and intestinal tissues, along with colonic digesta and carcass samples, were collected on PND 12 ( = 10) and PND 37 ( = 10) for analysis of parameters related to intestinal function, microbiota composition and muscular development. The results showed that MR-fed piglets had lower average daily gain (ADG) and higher diarrhea index during the neonatal period. During the nursery period, however, MR-fed piglets had significantly higher average daily feed intake (ADFI) and ADG. Compared to SM-fed piglets, MR-fed piglets had a lower percentage of fast twitch fibers, but a higher percentage of slow twitch fibers on PND 12, along with lower body fat content on both PND 12 and PND 37. In addition, MR-fed piglets had significantly deeper crypt depth, increased mRNA expressions of inflammatory genes, and lower alpha diversity on PND 12. On PND 37, however, MR-fed piglets had higher villus height, increased sucrase activity and alpha diversity. On PND 12, likewise, MR-fed piglets were enriched with associated with diarrhea, while SM-fed piglets were enriched with associated with body fat deposition. In contrast, on PND 37, MR-fed piglets were enriched with commonly recognized beneficial bacteria, such as f_Muribaculaceae, , f_Oscillospiraceae and f_Rikenellaceae. These findings indicate that piglets fed MR experienced temporary growth check and intestinal complications in neonatal period, but intriguingly MR piglets had higher feed intake, compensatory growth, and recovery of intestinal function during the nursery period.
随着养猪业窝产仔数的增加，使用代乳粉（MR）作为营养补充剂已被广泛应用，但用MR替代母猪奶（SM）对仔猪生长发育的影响仍不清楚。本研究评估了MR与SM对新生期和保育期仔猪生长性能、身体组成、肌纤维类型和肠道健康的不同影响。从10头健康母猪中选取40头2日龄仔猪，随机分为两组，一组自由采食SM，另一组自由采食MR，直至出生后第23天（PND 23），然后过渡到饲喂保育期日粮直至PND 37。在PND 12（n = 10）和PND 37（n = 10）采集血液、肌肉和肠道组织，以及结肠内容物和胴体样本，用于分析与肠道功能、微生物群组成和肌肉发育相关的参数。结果表明，采食MR的仔猪在新生期平均日增重（ADG）较低，腹泻指数较高。然而，在保育期，采食MR的仔猪平均日采食量（ADFI）和ADG显著更高。与采食SM的仔猪相比，采食MR的仔猪在PND 12时快肌纤维百分比更低，但慢肌纤维百分比更高，并且在PND 12和PND 37时体脂含量均更低。此外，采食MR的仔猪在PND 12时隐窝深度显著更深，炎症基因的mRNA表达增加，α多样性更低。然而，在PND 37时，采食MR的仔猪绒毛高度更高，蔗糖酶活性增加，α多样性更高。同样，在PND 12时，采食MR的仔猪富集了与腹泻相关的 ，而采食SM的仔猪富集了与体脂沉积相关的 。相反，在PND 37时，采食MR的仔猪富集了常见的有益细菌，如毛螺菌科、 科、颤螺菌科和理研菌科。这些发现表明，采食MR的仔猪在新生期经历了暂时的生长抑制和肠道并发症，但有趣的是，采食MR的仔猪在保育期采食量更高，有补偿性生长，并且肠道功能得到恢复。
