Dietary synbiotic alters plasma biochemical parameters and fecal microbiota and metabolites in sows

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary synbiotic supplementation on reproductive performance, plasma indexes, and fecal microbiota composition and metabolite level in pregnant and lactating sows. Forty-eight pregnant Bama mini-pigs with 3–7 parities were randomly allocated to a control group (a basal diet), an antibiotic group (50 g/t virginiamycin), or a synbiotic group (200 mL/d·head fermentation broth and 500 g/t xylo-oligosaccharides). Compared with the control group, dietary synbiotic supplementation increased the piglet survival rate and decreased colostrum somatic cell numbers, while synbiotic or antibiotic supplementation improved plasma lipid metabolism. The synbiotic supplementation increased fecal Simpson and Shannon indices, and the relative abundances of Coprococcus and Ruminococcus on day 105 of pregnancy compared with the other two groups. Spearman correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between Ruminococcus abundance and bioamine level but a negative correlation between Desulfovibrio abundance and butyrate level. These findings suggested that dietary synbiotic supplementation can improve piglet’s survival and lipid metabolism by altering gut microbiota diversity and composition in pregnant and lactating sows.

Keywords

• Fecal microbiota
• Metabolites
• Reproductive performance
• Sows
• Synbiotic