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Hyperprolific sows rear more piglets than they have teats, and to accommodate this, milk replacers are often offered as a supplement. Milk replacers are based on bovine milk, yet components of vegetable origin are often added. This may compromise growth and potentially cause dysregulated immune function and inflammation, but could also accelerate maturational changes, which might help in preparing the gut for the translational period of weaning. Therefore, we investigated the effect of feeding piglets a milk replacer with gradually increasing levels of wheat flour on growth, gut enzyme activity and immune function compared with a diet based entirely on bovine milk. The hypothesis tested was that adding a starch component (wheat flour) induces maturation of the mucosa as measured by higher digestive activity and improved integrity and immunity of the small intestines. To test this hypothesis, thirty-six male and female piglets were removed from the sow at day 3 and fed either a pure milk replacer diet (MILK) or from day 11 a milk replacer diet with increasing levels of wheat (WHEAT; 10 % of dry matter on day 11 to 40 % of dry matter on day 26). On day 25 and 26, blood samples were collected for cytokine determination. Pigs were euthanized for body fat and muscle mass examination and gut morphology, RNA sequencing and enzyme analyses.
No differences were observed in growth performance and body composition between groups. The WHEAT piglets had an increased enzyme activity of maltase and sucrase in the proximal part of the small intestine compared with the MILK group. There were no differences in gut morphology, histopathology and gene expression between the groups. More peripheral neutrophils were found in the WHEAT group, suggesting a potential modulation of immune function. Lipopolysaccharide stimulation of peripheral mononuclear cells showed no differences in cytokine production between groups, suggesting that no systemic inflammation was induced by the different dietary components.
In conclusion, the pigs given a milk replacer with added wheat displayed immunological and gut mucosal enzyme maturational changes, indicatory of adaptation towards a vegetable-based diet. This was not associated with any clinical complications, and future studies are needed to show whether this could improve responses in the subsequent weaning process.
Amdi C, Pedersen MLM, Klaaborg J, Myhill LJ, Engelsmann MN, Williams AR, Thymann T. Pre-weaning adaptation responses in piglets fed milk replacer with gradually increasing amounts of wheat. British Journal of Nutrition. 2021; 126(3): 375-382. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114520004225
