Transient effect of single or repeated acute deoxynivalenol and zearalenone dietary challenge on fecal microbiota composition in female finishing pigs.

Mycotoxins are a major contaminant of pig feed and have negative effects on health and performance. The present study investigated the impact of single or repeated acute challenges with a diet naturally contaminated with deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEN) on growth performances of finishing pigs and their fecal microbiota composition. A total of 160 pigs (castrated males and females) in two successive batches were randomly divided into four experimental groups of 40 pigs each. The control group received a control finisher diet from 99 to 154 days of age. Challenged groups were subjected to a 7-day acute challenge by being fed a DON- and ZEN-contaminated diet (3.02 mg DON/kg feed and 0.76 mg ZEN/kg feed) at 113 days (group DC), 134 days (group CD) or both 113 and 134 days (group DD). Microbiota composition was analyzed via 16S rRNA sequencing from fecal samples collected from the 80 females at 99, 119, 140 and 154 days. Challenged pigs (i.e. groups DC, CD and DD) reduced their average daily feed intake by 25% and 27% (P < 0.001) and feed efficiency by 34% and 28% (P < 0.05) during the first and second mycotoxin exposure, respectively. Microbiota composition was affected by mycotoxin exposure (P = 0.07 during the first exposure and P = 0.01 during the second exposure). At the family level, mycotoxin exposure significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the relative abundances of Ruminococcaceae, Streptococcaceae and Veillonellaceae and increased that of Erysipelotrichaceae at both 119 and 140 days of age. After the 7-day DON/ZEN challenge, the relative abundance of 6 to 148 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) differed among the treatment groups. However, none of these OTUs changed in all treatment groups. Using 27 functional pathways, pigs exposed to DON/ZEN challenges could be distinguished from control pigs using sparse partial least squares discriminant analysis, with a 15% misclassification rate. Regarding the functionality of these predictors, two pathways were involved in detoxifying mycotoxins: drug metabolism and xenobiotic metabolism by cytochrome P450. In challenged pigs, microbiota composition returned to the initial state within 3 weeks after the end of a single or repeated DON/ZEN challenge, highlighting the resilience of the gut microbiome. The feeding and growth performances of the pigs during challenge periods were significantly correlated with biological pathways related to health problems and modifications in host metabolism. To conclude, short-term DON/ZEN challenges resulted in transient modifications in the composition and functions of fecal microbiota.

Effects of duration of moderate increases in grain feeding on endotoxins in the digestive tract and acute phase proteins in peripheral blood of yearling calves.

Effects of duration of grain feeding on the concentration of endotoxic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in digesta throughout the digestive tract and on acute phase proteins and LPS in peripheral blood were determined in Holstein yearling calves. Twenty-five Holstein yearling steer calves received either a forage-based diet containing 92% hay and 8% of a mineral and vitamin pellet on a dry matter basis (CON) or a moderate-grain diet, obtained by replacing 41.5% of the hay in the forage-based diet with barley grain, for 3 (MG3), 7 (MG7), 14 (MG14), or 21 d (MG21) before slaughter. Immediately before slaughter, blood samples were collected from the jugular vein. Immediately after slaughter, digesta samples were collected from the rumen, jejunum, ileum, cecum, colon, and rectum. Rumen liquid digesta, digesta from the intestines, and peripheral blood plasma were analyzed for LPS. Peripheral blood plasma and serum were analyzed for the acute phase proteins amyloid A, haptoglobin, and LPS-binding protein. Feeding the grain diet increased the LPS concentration in rumen fluid linearly from 15,488 endotoxin units (EU)/mL for CON to 70,146 EU/mL for MG7. Concentrations of LPS in rumen fluid in MG14 and MG21 were 61,944 and 56,234 EU/mL, respectively, and did not differ. The LPS concentrations in jejunal digesta were much lower than that in digesta elsewhere in the digestive tract, which suggests that ruminal LPS is broken down in the abomasum or proximal jejunum. The concentration of digesta LPS in the ileum was higher than that of digesta elsewhere in the intestines and similar to that in rumen fluid. The duration of grain feeding increased the LPS concentration in digesta in the ileum and cecum and tended to increase that in the colon cubically. Concentrations of LPS in this part of the digestive tract were highest in the MG3 and MG21 groups. The highest concentrations of LPS in digesta in the cecum, colon, and rectum were 3.7, 3.8, and 5.6 times higher than that in CON, respectively. Grain feeding and the increase in LPS in digesta were not accompanied by an acute phase response or a detectable concentration of LPS in peripheral blood. The absence of LPS in peripheral blood and the lack of increase in acute phase proteins indicated that the grain feeding protocol used in the current study and the accompanying changes in LPS concentrations of the digesta did not result in systemic inflammation.