Probiotic, Paraprobiotic, and Hydrolyzed Yeast Mixture Supplementation Has Comparable Effects to Zinc Oxide in Improving Growth Performance and Ameliorating Post-weaning Diarrhea in Weaned Piglets.

A total of 150 21-day-old weaned piglets [(Yorkshire × Landrace) × Duroc] were randomly assigned to 3 groups (CON, TRT1, TRT2) to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of probiotic, paraprobiotic, and hydrolyzed yeast mixture (PPY) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal bacterial counts, fecal calprotectin contents, and diarrhea rate in a 42-day experiment (phase 1: days 1-14; phase 2: days 15-42). There were 10 replicate pens per treatment with 5 pigs per pen (three gilts and two barrows). Pigs in CON were only provided with a basal diet. Pigs in TRT1 were provided with a basal diet + 3000 mg/kg zinc oxide during phase 1 and a basal diet during phase 2. Pigs in TRT2 were provided with a basal diet + 200 mg/kg probiotic (Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii) + 800 mg/kg paraprobiotic (inactivated yeast strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Cyberlindnera jadinii) + 10 g/kg hydrolyzed yeast mixture during phase 1, and a basal diet + 100 mg/kg probiotic + 400 mg/kg paraprobiotic mixture during phase 2. Pigs in TRT1 and TRT2 were significantly heavier at day 14 and 42 than CON pigs. Growth rate during days 1-14, 15-42, and 1-42 and feed efficiency during days 1-14 were similarly affected by treatment while feed efficiency was significantly higher for TRT2 pigs between 15-42 and 1-42 days. Moreover, nitrogen and energy digestibility in both TRT1 and TRT2 were higher than that in CON. During experimental periods, diarrhea rate in TRT1 and TRT2 was lower than that in CON. Therefore, we demonstrated that PPY supplementation had comparable effects as ZnO in improving growth performance and nutrient digestibility as well as ameliorating post-weaning diarrhea in weaned piglets.

Effect of Feeding Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii CNCM I-1079 to Sows and Piglets on Piglets' Immune Response after Vaccination against Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect that feeding Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii CNCM I-1079 (LSB) to lactating sows and their progeny has on inflammatory response and mucosal immunity after vaccination against Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae. Sixty-seven Danbred sows were allotted into two treatments when they entered the farrowing room seven days before the expected farrowing date: control (CON: lactation diet) and LSB (CON + 12 × 109 colony forming units (CFU)/d until weaning). At weaning, piglets were equally allotted into two experimental diets according to sow diet: control (CON: 2-phase post-weaning diets) and LSB (CON + 2 × 109 CFU/kg and 1 × 109 CFU/kg in phases 1 and 2, respectively). The piglets were vaccinated at days 26 and 49 post-weaning. Growth performance and number of IgA producing cells and cytokine's gene expression in lung, lymph node, and intestine samples at day 70 post-weaning were assessed and analyzed in SPSS Statistics 26: performance with a general linear model with sex, room, sow diet, piglet diet, and their interactions as main effects, and immunity with a Kruskal−Wallis test for k unrelated samples. Piglets from LSB-fed sows displayed a higher average daily gain (ADG; p < 0.01) and a heavier body weight (BW; p < 0.05) during lactation, tended (p < 0.1) to be heavier at day 49, and to have a higher ADG between days 26 and 49; had fewer number of IgA producing cells in the lymph node (p < 0.05); and all the cytokines studied were significantly under-regulated (p < 0.05) in the lung. It is concluded that feeding Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii CNCM I-1079 to sows improved piglet performance during lactation and showed a clear reduction in the inflammatory status of the lungs after vaccination against A. pleuropneumoniae, suggesting that there was a maternal imprinting effect on mucosal protection and a cross-talk between the gut microbiota and the lung.