Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jul 3;13(7):e0199568.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199568. eCollection 2018.

Feeding sows resistant starch during gestation and lactation impacts their faecal microbiota and milk composition but shows limited effects on their progeny

Julie Leblois  1   2 , Sébastien Massart  3 , Hélène Soyeurt  4 , Clément Grelet  5 , Frédéric Dehareng  5 , Martine Schroyen  1 , Bing Li  1 , José Wavreille  6 , Jérôme Bindelle  1 , Nadia Everaert  1
Affiliations

Feeding sows resistant starch during gestation and lactation impacts their faecal microbiota and milk composition but shows limited effects on their progeny

Julie Leblois et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Establishment of a beneficial microbiota profile for piglets as early in life as possible is important as it will impact their future health. In the current study, we hypothesized that resistant starch (RS) provided in the maternal diet during gestation and lactation will be fermented in their hindgut, which would favourably modify their milk and/or gut microbiota composition and that it would in turn affect piglets' microbiota profile and their absorptive and immune abilities.

Methods: In this experiment, 33% of pea starch was used in the diet of gestating and lactating sows and compared to control sows. Their faecal microbiota and milk composition were determined and the colonic microbiota, short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) production and gut health related parameters of the piglets were measured two days before weaning. In addition, their overall performances and post-weaning faecal score were also assessed.

Results: The RS diet modulated the faecal microbiota of the sows during gestation, increasing the Firmicutes:Bacteroidetes ratio and the relative abundance of beneficial genera like Bifidobacterium but these differences disappeared during lactation and maternal diets did not impact the colonic microbiota of their progeny. Milk protein concentration decreased with RS diet and lactose concentration increased within the first weeks of lactation while decreased the week before weaning with the RS diet. No effect of the dietary treatment, on piglets' bodyweight or diarrhoea frequency post-weaning was observed. Moreover, the intestinal morphology measured as villus height and crypt depths, and the inflammatory cytokines in the intestine of the piglets were not differentially expressed between maternal treatments. Only zonula occludens 1 (ZO-1) was more expressed in the ileum of piglets born from RS sows, suggesting a better closure of the mucosa tight junctions.

Conclusion: Changes in the microbiota transferred from mother to piglets due to the inclusion of RS in the maternal diet are rather limited even though milk composition was affected.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. IgA concentration (mg/ml) in colostrum of sow.
DS sows are represented with the black bar (N = 12) and RS sows with grey bars (N = 11) sows. Results are expressed as mean+SEM.
Fig 2
Fig 2. PCoA dicriminating periods.
Individual red dots are the fecal samples of sows during gestation (N = 20) while blue squares are individual fecal samples of lactating sows (N = 20).
Fig 3
Fig 3. PCoA discriminating dietary treatments during gestation.
Red squares represent the faecal microbiota composition of sows fed DS during gestation (N = 10) while blue dots represent microbiota of sows fed RS diet (N = 10).
Fig 4
Fig 4. Piglets' faecal score during 2 weeks post-weaning.
Score was assessed daily for 15 days.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Lallès JP, Boudry G, Favier C, Le Floc’h N, Luron I, Montagne L, et al. Gut function and dysfunction in young pigs: physiology. Anim Res. 2004;53(4):301–316.
    1. Montagne L, Boudry G, Favier C, Le Huërou-Luron I, Lallès J-P, Sève B. Main intestinal markers associated with the changes in gut architecture and function in piglets after weaning. Br J Nutr. 2007;97(1):45–57. doi: 10.1017/S000711450720580X - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hu CH, Xiao K, Luan ZS, Song J. Early weaning increases intestinal permeability, alters expression of cytokine and tight junction proteins, and activates mitogen-activated protein kinases in pigs. Journal of Animal Science. 2014;91(3):1094–1101. - PubMed
    1. Le Huërou-Luron I. Production and gene expression of brush border disaccharidases and peptidases during development in pigs and calves In: Zabielski R, Gregory PC, Westrom B, editors. Biology of the Intestine in Growing Animals. 1st ed Elsevier; 2003. p. 491–513.
    1. Gresse R, Chaucheyras-durand F, Fleury MA, Van de Wiele T, Forano E, Blanquet-Diot S. Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis in Postweaning Piglets: Understanding the Keys to Health. Trends in Microbiology [Internet]. Elsevier Ltd; 2017;25(10):851–873. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2017.05.004 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Grants and funding

The Research Foundation for Industry and Agriculture, National Scientific Research Foundation (FRIA-FNRS http://www.fnrs.be/index.php) funded this research as a grant attributed to Julie Leblois, consisting in PhD financing (ref FC05289). The University of Liège (https://www.uliege.be) granted Nadia Everaert with a welcome grant for her to begin her own research in this laboratory.