Effect of maternal supplementation with seaweed extracts on growth performance and aspects of gastrointestinal health of newly weaned piglets after challenge with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli K88

Abstract

In the present study, a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement was conducted to investigate the effect of maternal supplementation with seaweed extracts (-SWE v. +SWE, n 20) from day 83 of gestation until weaning (day 28) on post-weaning (PW) growth performance, faecal score, faecal enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) toxin quantification, intestinal histology and cytokine mRNA of unchallenged and ETEC-challenged pigs. Pigs were ETEC challenged on day 9 PW. There was a maternal treatment × challenge (SWE × ETEC) interaction effect on growth performance and faecal score (P< 0·05). Pigs from SWE-supplemented sows and ETEC-challenged (SE) had higher average daily gain (ADG) during 0-13 d PW and reduced faecal score during 0-72 h post-challenge than those from basal-fed sows and ETEC-challenged (BE) (P< 0·05). However, there was no difference between unchallenged pigs from the SWE-supplemented sows (SC) and basal-fed sows (BC) (P>0·10). Pigs from the SWE-supplemented sows had reduced heat-labile enterotoxin gene copy numbers than those from the basal-fed sows (P< 0·05). Maternal SWE supplementation increased the villus height in the ileum of pigs (P< 0·05). There was a SWE × ETEC interaction effect (P< 0·05) on IL-6 mRNA and a SWE × gastrointestinal (GI) region interaction effect (P< 0·05) on transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and TNF-α mRNA. IL-6 mRNA was down-regulated in SC pigs than BC pigs (P< 0·05). However, there was no difference in IL-6 mRNA between SE and BE pigs. The mRNA of TGF-β1 and TNF-α was down-regulated in the colon of pigs from the SWE-supplemented sows compared with those from the basal-fed sows (P< 0·05). However, there was no difference in TGF-β1 and TNF-α mRNA in the ileum between the pigs from the SWE-supplemented sows and basal-fed sows. In conclusion, maternal SWE supplementation improves ADG and the aspects of GI health of weaned pigs following an ETEC challenge.