To date, antibiotics have been widely used in conventional animal medicine, as they are non-selective, as well as effective in killing pathogenic bacteria (Conly and Johnston, 2004). However, there is mounting concern over the increasing emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria due to the use of less innovative antibiotics; and moreover, the overuse of antibiotics in general (Llor and Bjerrum, 2014). Since antibiotics have been shown to kill-off beneficial bacteria in the gut, the development of possible alternatives to antibiotics has therefore come to the forefront as a solution to this agricultural-human health related issue. Maternal stress during late gestation may impair the development and reactivity of the sow’s offspring which impacts disease susceptibility and mortality (Chu et al., 2016). The European-wide ban on antibiotics as growth promoters initially has had detrimental effects with reported increased morbidity and mortality in pigs, increases in enteric infections leading to increases in clinical diarrhea, and reduced weight gains (Hao et al., 2014). The utilization of probiotics as a method of promoting healthy gut bacteria may potentially restore the composition of the gut microbiome and may result in amelioration or prevention of gut inflammation (Hemarajata and Versalovic, 2012). Whether or not these potential alternatives are suitable to replace antibiotics as growth promoters or preventatives, or act as a co-product to these dietary supplements, is still unclear.Feeding modified gestation diets, specifically the yeast probiotic, Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii (Scb), to sows throughout pregnancy could improve the immune status and stress responsiveness of both the dam and her progeny. The objectives of the sow study were to (1) assess the effects of the yeast probiotic treatment, Scb, on the immune status and cortisol levels of pregnant sows during late gestation (d 84 – d 112 of gestation); and to (2) assess the effects of the yeast probiotic treatment, Scb, on the stress responsiveness of sows at farrowing and weaning during the lactation period (d 112 – d 135). The objectives of the piglet study were to (1) assess the effects of feeding yeast probiotics, Scb, to sows during late gestation through lactation on the immune status of her piglets from birth till weaning (d 0 – d 21 of age); and to (2) assess the stress responsiveness of her piglets in response to farrowing and processing stressors, as well as the effects on the stress responsiveness of piglets to weaning stress in short- and long-term periods (d 21 – d 35 of age). A total of eighteen pregnant sows, derived from the Genetiporc maternal line, were used in this study. Sows were randomly assigned to either the control treatment (CON-sows) or the probiotic treatment (PRO-sows) starting on d 84 of gestation (baseline for the experiment). Sows were hand-fed either two boluses of the CON (placebo) or PRO (probiotic) daily at 0700 h starting on d 84 of gestation and ending on day of weaning (d 135). Sows were nose-snared to collect blood samples on gestational days 84, 91, 98, 105, and 112, and again on lactation days 115 (24 hours post-farrowing) and 135 (weaning). A total of eighty-four female piglets, born to sows derived of the Genetiporc maternal line were used in the piglet study (n = 84 piglets; 42 piglets/treatment). Fixed-effects parameters of treatment (control or probiotic-treated sows) and day of age for piglets were used for this study. Piglets were not directly fed the probiotic treatment during this research; rather, the maternal-fetal interaction was analyzed to assess the effects of the treatment given to the sows on the resulting immune status and stress responsiveness of the progeny. When presented with a challenge, such as farrowing and weaning stress in sows or farrowing, processing, and weaning stress in piglets, the yeast probiotic, Scb was shown to have a treatment x day interaction (p ≤ 0.05) on stress responsiveness, which included changes in immune status as well. The data imply that the increased immune status and stress response of the sows and piglets are interrelated in some cases, which can be changed with the inclusion of Scb. In general, few treatment x day interactions occurred for any measure assessed during gestation or lactation, except for plasma cortisol, natural killer cell cytotoxicity, neutrophil chemotaxis C5a and IL-8, Interleukin-12, and the leukocyte differential. Moreover, few treatment x day interactions occurred in piglets for any measure assessed during suckling or weaning, except for plasma cortisol, total white blood cell count, total neutrophil and lymphocyte counts, leukocyte differential, neutrophil phagocytosis, natural killer cell cytotoxicity, Interleukin-12, and LPS-induced mitogen proliferation. Some aspects of innate immunity implied that the PRO-piglets’ immune system was being affected by the Scb probiotic. The immune effects that occurred during the first 24-hours of age for the PRO-piglets were most likely due to the treatment that the probiotic-treated sows were given during late gestation. In addition, the immune effects that the PRO-piglets experienced from d 0 (birth) to d 7 of age were likely due to the PRO-sows’ treatment during gestation and lactation. Therefore, it is possible that feeding PRO-sows the yeast probiotic supplementation during the periods of gestation and lactation, resulted in positive outcomes of both innate and adaptive immune responses.
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The effects of a yeast probiotic, saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii, on common sow stressors and their effect on maternal-fetal programming
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