Dietary supplementation with yeast derivatives (YD) contributes to the health and physiology of sows and piglets, but few studies have focused on how it influences gut health and performance of sows and piglets. The goal was therefore to examine whether YD, based on brewer’s yeast hydrolysate added to pregnancy diet, would affect colostrum composition, yield (CY) and gut microbiota of sows and piglets. Sows were allocated to either a control diet (n = 19) or a control diet supplemented with 2g YD/kg (n = 18) during the pregnancy. Piglets suckling belonging to the control sows (n = 114) and supplemented sows (n = 108) were also included in the study. Gut microbiota populations of sows at farrowing and piglets at one and four weeks of age were assessed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Colostrum samples were examined for nutritional composition and immunoglobulin (Ig) content. All piglets were individually weighed at birth and 24 hours later in order to calculate CY, and later at four weeks to calculate average daily gain (ADG). Protein, lactose and dry matter content of colostrum did not significantly differ between the two groups, while sows fed YD had higher levels of fat in their colostrum (P < 0.05). Immunoglobulin A, IgM and IgG levels in colostrum did not differ between the two groups (P >0.05). Colostrum yield was lower in the control than that in YD group (3701g vs. 4581 g; P <0.05). Although the YD supplementation did not change fecal bacteria diversity in sow, more beneficial and fermentative bacteria (Roseburia, Paraprevotella, Eubacterium) were found in the YD fed group (P <0.01) while, some opportunistic pathogens, including Proteobacteria, especially the genera Desulfovibrio, Escherichia/Shigella and Helicobacter, were suppressed. Piglets at one week of age from sows fed YD had more beneficial microbial populations with significant diversity and fewer opportunistic pathogens. Additionally, we established a Pearson’s correlations between CY, colostrum components, piglet birth weight and fecal microbiota. Therefore, YD added to the sow diet during pregnancy increases colostrum availability and its energy content for neonate piglets, also promoting beneficial maternal microbial sources for neonate.

Colostrum is an essential source of immunoglobulin G (IgG) for neonate piglets. However, colostrum IgG content and nutritional composition can vary considerably among sows due to age, parity, feeding regime and immunological background. Currently, there is no practical way to obtain information about colostrum IgG concentration at herd level. We evaluated sows30.70 mg/ml (mean1.8 mg/ml) were recorded for colostrum samples with Brix readings below 20%. Borderline colostrum IgG content (43.82.1 mg/ml) had Brix % readings of 25% to 29% and very good IgG colostrum content (78.6 fresh colostrum is an inexpensive, rapid and satisfactorily accurate method of estimating IgG concentration, providing indication of differentiation between good and poor IgG content of colostrum.

Resin acid-enriched composition (RAC) mainly containing tall oil fatty acid with an active component of resin acid (RA) can improve the microbial population in the digestive system, change the microbial fermentation, and improve the feed conversion ratio. We investigated the effects of dietary supplementation of RAC on sow colostrum yield (CY), colostrum composition and gut microbiota. Tall oil fatty acid and RA are commonly termed RAC and CLA, pinolenic, abietic, dehydrobiotic acids are characteristic components of RAC. The experiment was conducted in three trials in three respective herds. Sows were fed with a control diet and the same diet supplemented with 5 g RAC/day per sow during the last week of gestation. The 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing technique was used to assess sows’ faecal microbiota populations at farrowing. Colostrum nutritional composition, acute phase proteins (APPs) and immunoglobulin (Ig) content were also assessed. Individual piglets were weighed at birth and 24 h after the birth of first piglets in order to calculate CY and later at 3 to 4 weeks to calculate average daily gain. The RAC-fed sows had significantly higher IgG levels (P<0.05) in all three herds but treatment did not influence colostrum IgA and IgM concentration. There were no significant differences in colostrum protein, lactose and fat content in sows of the two diet groups (P>0.05), but those fed RAC had higher levels of colostrum serum amyloid A. Colostrum yield was significantly higher in RAC-fed sows in herds 2 and 3 with heavier piglets between 3 and 4 weeks of age (P<0.05), but not in herd 1 (P>0.05). Resin acid-enriched composition supplementation significantly increased some beneficial and fermentative bacteria (Romboutsia and Clostridium sensu stricto) than the control diet (P<0.01) while some opportunistic pathogens (Barnesiella, Sporobacter, Intestinimonas and Campylobacter), including Proteobacteria, were suppressed. Therefore, RAC added to the sow diet at late pregnancy increases colostrum IgG, colostrum availability for neonate piglets, and seems to promote better maternal intestinal microbial sources.

The weaning process represents a delicate phase for piglets, and is often characterized by lower feed intake, lower weight gain, diarrhea, and ultimately increased mortality. We aimed to determine the effects of RAC supplementation in diets on improving piglet growth and vitality, reducing post-weaning diarrhea, and enhancing gut health. In a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experiment, we selected forty sows and their piglets. Piglets were followed until seven weeks of age. There were no significant differences found between RAC treated and control piglets until weaning (p = 0.26). However, three weeks after weaning, RAC treated piglets had higher body weight and average daily growth (ADG) than the control piglets (p = 0.003). In addition, the piglets that received RAC after weaning, irrespective of mother or prior creep feed treatment, had lower post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) and fecal myeloperoxidase (MPO) level than control piglets. Gut microbiota analysis in post-weaning piglets revealed that RAC supplementation significantly increased Lachnospiraceae_unclassified, Blautia, Butyricicoccus, Gemmiger and Holdemanella, and decreased Bacteroidales_unclassified. Overall, RAC supplementation to piglets modulated post-weaning gut microbiota, improved growth performance after weaning, reduced post-weaning diarrhea and reduced fecal myeloperoxidase levels. We therefore consider RAC to be a potential natural feed supplement to prevent enteric infections and improve growth performance in weaning piglets.

In our previous studies on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) -associated microbiota by molecular methods, we demonstrated that a particular 16S rRNA gene amplicon was more abundant in the feces of healthy subjects or mixed type IBS (IBS-M) -sufferers than in the feces of individuals with diarrhea-type IBS (IBS-D). In the current study, we demonstrated that this, so called Ct85-amplicon, consists of a cluster of very heterogeneous 16S rRNA gene sequences, and defined six 16S rRNA gene types, a to f, within this cluster, each representing a novel species-, genus- or family level taxon. We then designed specific PCR primers for these sequence types, mapped the distribution of the Ct85-cluster sequences and that of the newly defined sequence types in several animal species and compared the sequence types present in the feces of healthy individuals and IBS sufferers using two IBS study cohorts, Finnish and Dutch. Various Ct85-cluster sequence types were detected in the fecal samples of several companion and production animal species with remarkably differing prevalences and abundances. The Ct85 sequence type composition of swine closely resembled that of humans. One of the five types (d) shared between humans and swine was not present in any other animals tested, while one sequence type (b) was found only in human samples. In both IBS study cohorts, one type (e) was more prevalent in healthy individuals than in the IBS-M group. By revealing various sequence types in the widespread Ct85-cluster and their distribution, the results improve our understanding of these uncultured bacteria, which is essential for future efforts to cultivate representatives of the Ct85-cluster and reveal their roles in IBS.