Evaluation of amino acids supplementation on gastrointestinal microbiota composition of weaned piglets raised under varying sanitary conditions

• Grant number: 22/04322-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: October 10, 2022
• End date: October 04, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: Luciano Hauschild
• Grantee: Antonio Diego Brandão Melo
• Supervisor: João Carlos Gomes Neto
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 19/19588-4 - Evaluation of the physiological and metabolic response and performance of post-weaning piglets submitted to different management conditions and environment, BP.PD

Abstract

The weaning is a most stressful period in pig production, in the which intestinal dysbiosis reduces the protective action exerted by the commensal microbiota on the intestinal mucosa. Furthermore, the mixing of batches of piglets from different origins in the nurseries can pose a health challenge for good health piglets when housed with animals with poor health status. In a scenario of post-weaning intestinal dysbiosis and mixing of batches of piglets with different sanitary conditions, the proliferation and dissemination of pathogens are potentiated, resulting in considerable variability in the productive responses of the animals. Also, little is known about how the potential synergistic effect of gastrointestinal (GI) microbiome changes and specific dietary alterations are capable of mitigating the negative impact in pig performance under high infection pressure. In this sense, nutritional strategies such as amino acids supplementation in diets have been proposed to mitigate the impact of adverse conditions to which piglets have been exposed. Thus, in addition to continuing the activities developed so far, this proposal aims to evaluate the effect of amino acids supplementation on the GI microbiota composition of weaned pigs under varying sanitary conditions (e.g., high infectious pressure or environmental contamination). During the 42-day experimental period, piglets were fed a control or supplemented diet in order to reach 100% or exceed by 20% the requirements of the amino acids Trip:Lys, Thr:Lys and Met+Cys:Lys, according to the NRC recommendations. Fecal samples were collected to analysis of intestinal microbiota population. In general, the results of the study will make it possible to advance in the knowledge of the responses of pigs (microbiota) to amino acids supplementation when exposed to a health challenge condition. (AU)