PSIV-A-3 - Effect of fiber and stimbiotic on growth performance and the gut microbiome in pigs challenged with F18 enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC).

Abstract: Dietary fiber has been shown to promote a healthy gut microbiota, while stimbiotics enhance fermentable substances and boost the expansion of the commensal microbiome, improving host health by alleviating deleterious effects of proinflammatory responses. The intended purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the effectiveness of dietary fiber sources and stimbiotic on the sustainability of F18 enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) challenge. A total of 216 piglets were blocked (n = 8) by weaning BW and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 dietary treatments, including corn-SBM based control diet (CC), high fiber diet (HF: 5.0, 3.8. 2.5% sugar beet pulp and 4.0, 3.0 and 2.0% soy hulls for phases 1, 2, and 3, respectively), CC plus 0.01% stimbiotic (CS: Signis, ABVISTA Marlborough, United Kingdom), and HF plus 0.01% stimbiotic (FS). Pigs were fed a four-phase feeding regimen: phase 1 (d0-9), phase 2 (d9-16), phase 3 (d16-22), phase 4 (d22-41). Dietary fiber and stimbiotic were provided from weaning (d0) to day 22, and then a common diet was fed from d22 to the end of the trial. On day 5 postweaning, all pigs were orally inoculated with 10 ml of F18 ETEC (10⁸ CFU/ml.) One median BW pig from each pen was selected at weaning for fecal sampling. Before the challenge, the same pigs were sampled on d5 and again on d8 and d12. Samples were used to quantify the E. Coli using 3M Petrifilm (3M Food Safety, St. Paul, MN) and virulence genes of the isolate were qualified using multiplex PCR. Colony-forming-count was log-transformed. All data normality was verified using Univariate procedure and analyzed using Mixed procedure of SAS (Cary, NC). Pigs fed both CS and HF increased ADG in phase 2 and phase 1-3 compared to pigs fed CC diets, while adding stimbiotic had no additional benefit to HF (Fiber×Stimbotic P = 0.03 and 0.06, respectively). This response led to heavier BW in pigs fed CS at the end of phase 3 compared to pigs fed CC with HF and FS as intermediate (Fiber×Stimbotic P = 0.06, respectively). Overall, ADFI was higher in pigs fed CS than pigs fed FS while no difference was found between CC and CF (Fiber×Stimbotic P = 0.02). Dietary fiber did not impact G:F; however, G:F was improved in stimbiotic fed pigs in phase 2 (Stimbiotic P = 0.01). Total coliform count was reduced from d2 to d7 (day P < 0.01), but neither fiber nor stimbiotic altered the coliform count. Results of this study demonstrated that both high fiber and stimbiotic help restore ADG when pigs were challenged with ETEC. Additionally, stimbiotic also benefited feed efficiency and resulted in the heaviest BW.