Prophylactic use of antimicrobials in newborn piglets and their effects on fecal microbial community and subsequent performance

• Grant number: 14/27182-4
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2015
• End date: September 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Production
• Principal Investigator: Anibal de Sant'Anna Moretti
• Grantee: Anibal de Sant'Anna Moretti
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: André Furugen Cesar de Andrade ; Andrea Micke Moreno ; Simone Maria Massami Kitamura Martins

Abstract

The importance of early bacterial colonization on host susceptibility to enteric and respiratory diseases has increased the need for studies involving neonatal bacterial colonization associated with the use of more accurate techniques to characterize the intestinal microbiota. Prophylactic use of antimicrobials in animal production are common in therapy of respiratory or enteric infections of bacterial origin, however, little is known about the impact of administration on the fecal microbiota in newborn piglets and effects on performance in subsequent phases. Thus, this present study aims to evaluate the prophylactic use of long- acting ceftiofur in neonatal on the fecal microbial community and effects in performance of piglets in the nursery phase. The litters of 12 females will be divide into two groups, ceftiofur (CEF, n = 72), and control (CTR, n = 72). Piglets in antibiotics group will be receive intramuscular injection in the first day of life; the other piglets from the control group will receive buffered saline. For each experimental group will be evaluate the occurrence of infections (enteric infections, respiratory or systemic character) during lactation and after weaning, the body weight, average daily gain, average daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio and fecal score. It will also evaluate the total amount of bacteria in the feces by flow cytometry and the variability of the fecal microbiota by next-generation sequencing technique. The performance data of the animals will be submitted analysis of variance (SAS, 2011). Hypothesis tested will be consider significant when P < 0.05. (AU)