New insights into healthy piglet weaning confirm role of the microbiota and immune transfer

Lallemand Animal Nutrition recently shared several new studies around nutritional approaches to reducing the use of antimicrobials at recent international swine congresses. These studies highlight the importance of planning ahead for successful piglet weaning by modulating the sow microbiota. Results also demonstrate the importance of immune transfer from sow to piglets.

Following is a summary of some key presentations:

At the 13th European Symposium of Porcine Health Management in Budapest, Hungary, the Lallemand Animal Nutrition team presented data on the role of live yeast supplementation in the sow’s diet to support piglet immunity up to weaning, confirming the relevance of the maternal microbial imprinting concept when it comes to immunity and subsequent performance. The study presented¹ explored the role of the live yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii CNCM I-1079 in the sow’s diet and piglet immunity post-weaning in the context of piglet Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (APP) vaccination. It showed a beneficial effect on the mucosal immune protection in piglets. Moreover, piglets from supplemented sows showed greater growth performance.

From May 17-20, our team was pleased to support the 15th International Symposium on Digestive Physiology of Pigs (DDP), in Rotterdam (The Netherlands) as Bronze sponsor and to take part in this high-level scientific event in the fields of pig nutrition and gut physiology.

David Saornil, Caroline Achard, Fernando Bravo de Laguna et DPP 2022

• One study presented² confirmed that feeding the live yeast c. boulardii CNCM I-1079 to weanling piglets improves animal performance and health partially by altering the metabolism and signaling of microbial bile acids. The piglet growth improvement could be linked to postprandial attenuation of both energy expenditure and satiety signals through bile acid modulation.
• Two other studies presented in Rotterdam concerned the development of an advanced in vitro colonic model that mimics the piglet gut and the stress of weaning.³ This unique model represents both the luminal and mucosal gut environment. Combined with an intestinal cell lines model, it was used to understand better the host’s inflammatory gut response associated with weaning stress (ETEC challenge)⁴, with and without live yeast c. boulardii CNCM I-1079 supplementation. These innovative, animal-free techniques show that — in the absence of the probiotic — the pathogen challenge (ETEC) stimulates the expression of biomarkers involved in pro-inflammatory responses and gut barrier restoration in the host’s gut cells. On the other hand, pre-treatment with the probiotic yeast limited these changes, indicating a more efficient barrier function and lower inflammatory response to the weaning stress.

Finally, pursuing innovation in the area of in vitro digestive models, another study⁵ was presented regarding the development of pig intestinal organoids as an advanced tool to assess the response of the epithelial barrier.

Lallemand Animal Nutrition will be presenting additional research at the Zero Zinc Summit, on June 22-23 in Copenhagen and at IPVS on June 21-24 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

1. Ramis G., Gonzalez-Guijarro B., Pallarés-Martínez F., Chevaux E., Castex M., Lebreton P., Saornil D., BravoDe Laguna F. 2022. Influence of Sacharomyces cerevisiae boulardii CNCM I-1079 on IgA producing cell number after vaccination against Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae. 13th European Symposium of Porcine Health Management, Budapest, Hungary
2. Bravo de Laguna F., Gavaldá-Navarro A., Alvarez-Acero I., et al. 2022. Effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii CNCM I-1079 on bile acids signaling in post-weaning piglets. 15th International Symposium on Digestive Physiology of Pigs, Rotterdam, NL.
3. Gresse R., Chaucheyras-Durand F., Denis S., et al. 2022. Development and validation of a novel mucin-containing in vitro model of the piglet colon at weaning: effect of associated feed deprivation. 15th International Symposium on Digestive Physiology of Pigs, Rotterdam, NL
4. Gresse R., Chaucheyras-Durand F., Denis S., et al. 2022. A live probiotic yeast reduces inflammatory response of porcine intestinal cell lines exposed to effluents of a piglet colonic fermentation model inoculated with enterotoxigenic coli. 15th International Symposium on Digestive Physiology of Pigs, Rotterdam, NL
5. Mussard E., Lencina C., Gallo, Albin M., et al. 2022. Characterization of an organoid model to study the intestinal epithelium in piglets 15th International Symposium on Digestive Physiology of Pigs, Rotterdam, NL