AUTHOR=Liu Han , Wang Congmin , Gu Xueling , Zhao Jing , Nie Cunxi , Zhang Wenju , Ma Xi 

TITLE=Dietary Montmorillonite Improves the Intestinal Mucosal Barrier and Optimizes the Intestinal Microbial Community of Weaned Piglets

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.593056

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2020.593056

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=The study investigated the impact of dietary montmorillonite on growth performance, intestinal mucosal barrier and microbial community in weaned piglets with control group (CON) and dietary supplementation of 0.2% montmorillonite (0.2% M). There is a tendency to increase the average daily gain (ADG) during days 15-35 and 1-35 and average daily feed intake (ADFI) during days 1-35 by adding the 0.2% M to the diets than the CON group (0.05 < P < 0.1). Besides, the higher villus height of duodenum and jejunum and the lower crypt depth of duodenum and colon in the 0.2% M group were revealed than that in the CON group, respectively (P < 0.05). Moreover, the V/C (ratio of the villus height and crypt depth) in the 0.2% M group was increased compared with that in the CON group both from duodenum and ileum (P < 0.05). The relative mRNA expression of mucin-1, ITGB1 (β1-integrins), PKC (protein kinase C) of ileum in the 0.2% M group were up-regulated (P < 0.05) compared to that in the CON group. The digesta sample of ileum from piglets in the 0.2% M group contained greater (P < 0.05) intestinal bacterial diversity and abundances of probiotics, such as Streptococcus, Eubacterium_rectale_group and Lactobacillus, which could promote the synthesis of carbon-containing biomolecules. Overall, dietary supplementation of 0.2% M have a tendency to improve the growth performance on weaned piglets and may enhance the intestinal mucosal barrier function via altering the gut microbiota.