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. 2023 Dec 15;13(24):3867.
doi: 10.3390/ani13243867.

Fermented Chinese Herbs Improve the Growth and Immunity of Growing Pigs through Regulating Colon Microbiota and Metabolites

Junhao Zhang  1 , Zhiheng Shu  1 , Sixiao Lv  1 , Qingwen Zhou  1 , Yuanhao Huang  1 , Yingjie Peng  2 , Jun Zheng  1 , Yi Zhou  1 , Chao Hu  1 , Shile Lan  1
Affiliations

Fermented Chinese Herbs Improve the Growth and Immunity of Growing Pigs through Regulating Colon Microbiota and Metabolites

Junhao Zhang et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

(1) Background: the development of new antibiotic substitutes to promote pig growth and health has become an important way to solve the current dilemma and promote the pig industry. (2) Methods: to assess the effects of a fermented Chinese herbal (FCH) formula on the growth and immunity of growing pigs, 100 Duroc × Landrace × Yorshire three-way crossed growing pigs were randomly divided into control and treatment groups that were fed a basal diet, and a basal diet with 1% (group A), 2% (group B), and 3% (group C) FCH formulas, respectively. A sixty-day formal experiment was conducted, and their growth and serum indices, colonic microbiota, and metabolites were analyzed. (3) Results: the daily gain of growing pigs in groups A, B, and C increased by 7.93%, 17.68%, and 19.61%, respectively, and the feed-to-gain ratios decreased by 8.33%, 15.00%, and 14.58%, respectively. Serum immunity and antioxidant activities were significantly increased in all treatment groups. Particularly, adding a 2% FCH formula significantly changed the colon's microbial structure; the Proteobacteria significantly increased and Firmicutes significantly decreased, and the metabolite composition in the colon's contents significantly changed. (4) Conclusions: these results indicate that the FCH formula is a good feed additive for growing pigs, and the recommended addition ratio was 3%.

Keywords: fermented digestion-promoting Chinese herbs; growing pig; growth properties; gut microbiota; serum indicators.

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Conflict of interest statement

Yingjie Peng was employed by the company Guangdong Chuangzhan Bona Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd., China.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effects of fermented Chinese herbs (FCHs) on the growth performances of growing pigs. (A) Initial body weight (IBW); (B) final body weight (FBW); (C) average daily gain (ADG); (D) average daily feed intake (ADFI); (E) feed/gain ratio (F/G). Pigs in the control group were fed a basal diet, and the diets of groups A, B, and C were a basal diet with 1%, 2%, and 3% FCHs, respectively. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effects of fermented Chinese herbs (FCHs) on the serum physiological and biochemical indicators of growing pigs. (A) Total protein (TP); (B) albumin (ALB); (C) blood urea nitrogen (BUN); (D) triglyceride (TG); (E) total cholesterol (T-Chol); (F) glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT); (G) alanine aminotransferase (ALT); (H) low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-Chol); (I) high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-Chol); (J) total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC); (K) glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px); (L) total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD); (M) malondialdehyde (MDA); (N) immunoglobulin A (IgA); (O) immunoglobulin G (IgG); (P) immunoglobulin M (IgM); (Q) lysozyme (LZM). Pigs in the control group were fed a basal diet, and the diets in groups A, B, and C were provided with a basal diet with 1%, 2%, and 3% FCHs, respectively. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect of fermented Chinese herbs (FCHs) on the colonic microbiota of growing pigs. (A) Rarefaction curve; (B) ASV number; (C) Shannon index; (D) ACE index; (E) principal co-ordinates analysis profile; (F) relative abundances of dominant phyla; (G) bar chart showing the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) results; (H) cladogram plot showing the LDA effect size (LEfSe) results. Taxa with LDA > 3.0 and p < 0.05 were considered significant differences; the prefixes “f” and “g” represent the annotated family and genus levels, respectively. Pigs in the control group were fed a basal diet, and the diet of group B was the basal diet with 2% FCH. * p < 0.05; *** p < 0.001.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effect of fermented Chinese herbs on the metabolomics of the colonic contents of growing pigs. (A) The principal component analysis profile shows the difference in the metabolomes of the colonic contents between group B and the controls; (B) the volcano plot shows the different metabolites; (C) the bar chart shows the main differential metabolic pathways; (D) the bar chart shows the main differential metabolites; (E) the co-occurrence network shows the connections of the main metabolites and metabolic pathways; (F) the heatmap profile shows the collection between the main colonic microbes and metabolites. The enlarged heatmap profile is shown in Figure S3. Pigs in the control group were fed a basal diet, and the diet of group B was the basal diet with 2% FCH. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.
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