Oral administration of multispecies microbial supplements to sows influences the composition of gut microbiota and fecal organic acids in their post-weaned piglets

The timings of the administration of microbial supplements to control the populations of gut microbiota of piglets have been poorly understood. Here the effects of temporal administering multispecies microbial supplements to sows on the composition of gut microbiota and on the bacteria-mediated fecal metabolites in their offsprings were investigated. During gestation and lactation, pregnant sows were fed either a normal diet (group A) or a diet with multispecies supplements comprised of nine microbial species such as Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Enterococcus faecium, Candida pintolopesii, and Aspergillus oryzae etc. (group B). All of the sows' piglets were temporarily fed with the same supplements around weaning in accordance with the guideline of the farm. This regimen was followed by a normal diet in both groups over one month thereafter. Under such conditions, the concentration of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in fecal samples remarkably increased in group B compared to group A. When 16S rDNA sequences of the fecal bacteria were analyzed, the microbial structure of bacteria was different between both goups. Especially the Clostridium cluster IV and subcluster XIVa were particularly increased in group B, although the administered microbes were undetectable. Thus, temporal administration of multispecies-microbial supplements to pregnant sows changes the composition of SCFAs and gut microbiota in their offsprings.