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The growing number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria makes the development of natural and safe alternatives to antibiotics an urgent need. The available literature indicates that dietary supplementation with compound probiotics and berberine (CPB) might regulate gut microbiota as well as improve growth performance and intestinal immunity, which may have a great potential value for its development and application in animal production. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with CPB on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, serum biochemical parameters and fecal microflora in weaned piglets. A total of 200 piglets 35 days old were randomly allocated to 5 groups, 4 replications in each group, and 10 piglets in each replication. Group A was the basal diet; group B was supplemented with antibiotics and zinc oxide; groups C, D and E were supplemented with 0.06%, 0.12% and 0.18% CPB, respectively. The experimental period was 42 d. Blood samples and fecal samples were collected from 3 and 5 castrated piglets respectively in each group at the end of the experiment.
The results indicated that there were no significant differences in average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion rate (FCR) among the five groups. However, mortality, diarrhea and rejection rates in the control group were higher than that in other groups. CPB increased protein digestibility and serum IgG content, while it decreased serum urea nitrogen content and alkaline phosphatase activity. Analysis of fecal microbiota showed that the relative abundances of Bacteroides and Firmicutes were increased, while the relative abundances of opportunistic pathogens such as Spirochaetae and Protebacteria were dramatically decreased in piglets fed with CPB or antibiotics, compared with the control group. Furthermore, CPB intervention increased the relative abundances of Prevotella_9, Megasphaera and Prevotella_2, while it decreased the relative abundance of Prevotellaceae_NK3B31_group. Correlation analysis revealed that there was good correlation between serum indexes and fecal microbiota.
It was suggested that CPB might be a promising antibiotic alternative for improving piglet health and immunity, decreasing mortality by positively altering gut microbiota.
Xu X, Yang C, Chang J, Wang P, Yin Q, Liu C, Gao T, Dang X, Lu F. Dietary supplementation with compound probiotics and berberine alters piglet production performance and fecal microbiota. Animals. 2020; 10(3): 511. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10030511