Effect of Neonatal Interventions with Specific Micronutrients and Bovine Colostrum on Micronutrient and Oxidative Statuses and on Gut Microbiota in Piglets from Birth to Post-Weaning Period

TL;DR

This study explores how supplementing piglets or their mothers with specific nutrients and colostrum affects piglet health, micronutrient levels, and gut bacteria from birth to weaning.

Contribution

The study reveals that maternal supplementation, especially in low birth weight piglets, benefits gut microbiota diversity, while direct piglet supplementation has limited long-term effects.

Findings

Supplementing piglets with micronutrients and colostrum increased postnatal micronutrient levels during lactation but not after weaning.

Maternal supplementation improved gut microbiota richness in piglets, particularly in low birth weight individuals.

Antioxidant status was not significantly affected by any of the supplementation strategies.

Abstract

Placental and colostral transfers of copper and vitamins A and D, key micronutrients for antioxidant metabolism and the development of immunity and intestinal microbiota, are limited in pig species. Hence, supplementing the three above-mentioned micronutrients indirectly through sow’s diets or directly to suckling piglets along with a bovine colostrum extract might contribute to the robustness and health of piglets and eventually to their growth performance during the pre- and post-weaning period. The present results indicated that direct supplementations of micronutrients to piglets with or without a bovine colostrum extract, though efficient in transiently increasing the postnatal micronutrient status during lactation, had no apparent impact on responses to oxidative stress or gut microbiota in suckling and post-weaned piglets. Similar responses were observed from supplementations through the sow’s diets in late gestation and lactation except for gut microbiota, where apparent beneficial impacts were observed, particularly in suckling, low birth weight piglets. Taken together, the present results indicated that the stress of weaning is a crucial factor in treatments or birth weight class effects for the metabolic status of these micronutrients, the antioxidative status, or the microbiota of piglets. Further studies will be needed to investigate the impact of supplementations administered closer to the onset of weaning stress on the robustness and health of piglets.

This study aimed to determine the impact of supplementations of copper, vitamins A and D (ADCU), and a bovine colostrum extract (BC) on the micronutrient status, antioxidant status, and intestinal microbiota of piglets until the post-weaning period. Twenty-three sows were fed conventional gestation and lactation diets, and twenty-four sows were fed conventional diets supplemented with ADCU. For each litter, all piglets received one of four treatments during lactation: no supplementation; ADCU; BC; and ADCU + BC. Within each litter, one low (LW) and one high birth weight (HW) piglet were euthanized before and after weaning to collect liver and intestinal samples. Serum vitamin D, liver retinol, and liver Cu were greater in ADCU piglets (p < 0.01), mostly before weaning. After weaning, liver Cu decreased markedly with a drop of 75% in all treatments, despite high levels of Cu in their post-weaning diets. The antioxidant status of piglets was not globally altered by treatments (p > 0.05). For microbiota composition, sow supplementation increased (p < 0.01) richness in bacterial species in the piglet colon, either before or shortly after weaning. Short-chain fatty acids in caecal digesta were increased by sow supplementation in LW piglets before weaning at 16 days of age (p < 0.05). In conclusion, oral supplementations to piglets increased postnatal micronutrient statuses during lactation, but this did not generally persist after weaning. Treatments to sows or piglets did not improve the response of piglets to oxidative stress, but supplementation to sows favoured gut microbiota diversity, particularly in LW piglets.

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