Weanling pigs, with immature immune system and physiological function, usually experience post-weaning diarrhea. This study determined the effects of dietary Clostridium butyricum supplementation on growth performance, diarrhea, and immunity of weaned pigs challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In Experiment (Exp.) 1, 144 weaned piglets were weaned at 21 d and randomly assigned to six groups, with six replicates per group and four pigs per replicate, receiving a control diet (CON) or diet supplemented with antibiotics (AB) or C. butyricum (CB) (0.1%, 0.2%, 0.4%, or 0.8%), respectively. All diets in Exp. 1 were a highly digestible basal diet, with 3,000 mg/kg zinc oxide supplied in the first 2 wk only. In Exp. 2, 180 piglets were weaned at 21 d and randomly assigned to five groups, with six replicates per group and six pigs per replicate, receiving CON, AB, or CB (0.2%, 0.4%, or 0.6%) diets. The digestibility of diets was lower than those in Exp. 1, and did not include zinc oxide. At 36 d of Exp. 2, 12 piglets were selected from each of the CON and 0.4% CB groups, six piglets were intraperitoneally injected with LPS (50 μg/kg body weight) and the other six piglets with normal saline; animals were killed at 4 h after injection to collect blood, intestine, and digesta samples for biochemical analysis. In Exp. 1, CB and AB diets had no effect on growth performance of piglets. In Exp. 2, 0.4% CB decreased feed-gain ratio (P < 0.1), diarrhea score (P < 0.05), and increased duodenal, jejunal, and ileal villus height and jejunal villus height/crypt depth (P < 0.05). The 0.4% CB decreased the plasma tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α (P < 0.05) but increased ileal mucosa IL-10 and TLR2 mRNA expression (P < 0.05). Furthermore, 0.4% CB altered the microbial profile, with Bacillus and Ruminococcaceae UGG-003 at genus level and Lactobacillus casei and Parasutterella secunda at species level were higher than CON in colonic content (P < 0.05). Dietary C. butyricum supplementation had positive effects on growth of weaned piglets with less digestible diets. There was a tendency to reduce the feed-gain ratio, which could reduce feed costs in pig production. Moreover, C. butyricum decreased post-weaning diarrhea by improving the intestinal morphology, intestinal microflora profile, and immune function.

To study the effects of maternal dietary fiber composition during gestation on offspring antioxidant capacity, inflammation, and gut microbiota composition, we randomly assigned 64 gilts to four treatments and administered diets with an insoluble/soluble fiber ratio of 3.89 (R1), 5.59 (R2), 9.12 (R3), and 12.81 (R4). Sow samples (blood and feces at gestation 110) and neonatal samples (blood, liver, and colonic contents) were collected. The results showed that sows and piglets in R1 and R2 had higher antioxidant enzyme activity and lower pro-inflammatory factor levels than those in R3 and R4. Moreover, piglets in R1 and R2 had higher liver mRNA expression of Nrf2 and HO-1 and lower NF-κB than piglets in R4. Interestingly, maternal fiber composition not only affected the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in sow feces but also influenced the concentrations of SCFAs in the neonatal colon. Results of high-throughput sequencing showed that piglets as well as sows in R1 and R2 had microbial community structures distinct from those in R3 and R4. Therefore, the composition of dietary fiber in pregnancy diet had an important role in improving antioxidant capacity and decreasing inflammatory response of mothers and their offspring through modulating the composition of gut microbiota.

Background: Beneficial effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) on the reproduction of male animals are widely described in the literature. However, there is little information about the effect of n-3/n-6 PUFA ratios on male health and reproduction. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of diets with different n-3/n-6 PUFA ratios on the reproductive performance of male rats. Methods: Eighty male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were supplemented with diets containing different n-3/n-6 PUFA ratios (0.13, 0.40, 0.85, 1.52 and 2.85) for 60 days. Half of the rats in each group were sacrificed on day 60, and the other half were chosen to mate with female mice to assess the effects of n-3/n-6 ratios on reproductive performance. Results: Sperm density and sperm motility of the 1.52 group were higher than other groups (P < .05), and the development of testis and the morphological structure of sperm in the 1.52 group were better than other groups. Furthermore, a higher litter size and birth weights of offspring were observed in the 1.52 group. Additionally, serum reproductive hormone levels were significantly affected by the n-3/n-6 ratios. Conclusion: These findings demonstrated that a balanced n-3/n-6 ratio was important in male rat reproduction. Therefore there is a necessity to determine an appropriate n-3/n-6 PUFA ratio in man and different male animals in the future.

Although fiber-rich diets have been positively associated with sperm quality, there have not been any studies that have examined the effects of dietary fiber and its metabolites on sperm quality in young or pre-pubescent animals. In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of dietary fiber supplementation on semen quality and the underlying mechanisms in a boar model. Sixty purebred Yorkshire weaning boars were randomly divided into the four groups (T1–T4). Groups T1, T2, and T3 boars were fed diets with different levels of fiber until reaching 160 days of age and were then fed the same diet, while group T4 boars were fed a basal diet supplemented with butyrate and probiotics. Compared with T1 boars, sperm motility and effective sperm number were significantly higher among T3 boars. Meanwhile, at 240 days of age, the acetic acid and total short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) contents in the sera of T3 and T4 boars were significantly higher than those in T1 boars. The abundance of microbiota in T2 and T3 boars was significantly higher than that in T1 boars (P < 0.01). Moreover, dietary fiber supplementation increased “beneficial gut microbes” such as UCG-005, Rumenococcus, Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group and Lactobacillus and decreased the relative abundance of “harmful microbes” such as Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, Romboutsia and Turicibacter. Collectively, the findings of this study indicate that dietary fiber supplementation improves gut microbiota and promotes SCFA production, thereby enhancing spermatogenesis and semen quality. Moreover, the effects of dietary fiber are superior to those of derived metabolites.

Intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR) impairs postnatal growth and skeletal muscle development in neonatal infants. This study evaluated whether dietary β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate Ca (HMB-Ca) supplementation during the early postnatal period could improve muscle growth in IUGR neonates using piglets as a model. A total of twelve pairs of IUGR and normal-birth-weight (NBW) male piglets with average initial weights (1·85 (sem 0·36) and 2·51 (sem 0·39) kg, respectively) were randomly allotted to groups that received milk-based diets (CON) or milk-based diets supplemented with 800 mg/kg HMB-Ca (HMB) during days 7–28 after birth. Blood and longissimus dorsi (LD) samples were collected and analysed for plasma amino acid content, fibre morphology and the expression of genes related to muscle development. The results indicate that, regardless of diet, IUGR piglets had a significantly decreased average daily weight gain (ADG) compared with that of NBW piglets (P<0·05). However, IUGR piglets fed HMB-Ca had a net weight and ADG similar to that of NBW piglets fed the CON diet. Irrespective of body weight (BW), HMB-Ca supplementation markedly increased the type II fibre cross-sectional area and the mRNA expression of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), insulin-like growth factor-1 and myosin heavy-chain isoform IIb in the LD of piglets (P<0·05). Moreover, there was a significant interaction between the effects of BW and HMB on mTOR expression in the LD (P<0·05). In conclusion, HMB-Ca supplementation during the early postnatal period could improve skeletal muscle growth and maturity by accelerating fast-twitch glycolytic fibre development in piglets.