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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbial Symbioses
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1430511
This article is part of the Research Topic Harnessing Natural Plant Extracts and Probiotics to Enhance Host-Gut Microbiome Interactions View all 7 articles

High Casein Concentration induce diarrhea through the mTOR signal pathway in post-weaning piglets

Provisionally accepted
Jing Gao Jing Gao 1,2*Li Ma Li Ma 2Yulong Yin Yulong Yin 1Yongzhong Chen Yongzhong Chen 2Tiejun Li Tiejun Li 1
  • 1 Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Changsha, China
  • 2 National Engineering Research Center for Oil Tea, Changsha, Anhui Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Post-weaning diarrhea is one of the major health problems that is accompanied by serious morbidity and mortality in the pig industry. Previous studies have demonstrated that both protein source and concentration are closely associated with post-weaning diarrhea in piglets. Our study was conducted to prevent and control post-weaning diarrhea by choosing different dietary protein concentrations. To avoid influences from other protein sources, casein was used as the only protein source in this study. Fourteen piglets (8.43 ± 0.3 kg, weaned at 28d) were randomly allotted to two dietary protein groups: a lower casein group (LP, containing 17% casein) and a high casein group (HP, containing 30% casein). The experiment lasted for two weeks, and all piglets were free to eat and drink water ad libitum. The diarrhea score (1 = normal; 3 = watery diarrhea) and growth performance were recorded daily. The results showed that the piglets in the HP group had persistent diarrhea during the whole study, but no diarrhea was noticed in the control groups. The body weights and feed intake were significantly decreased in the HP piglets when compared with the LP group (P < 0.05). The gastrointestinal pH was significantly increased in the HP group compared with the LP group (P < 0.05). The microorganisms of two groups were significantly affected by the protein concentration of the diet. High casein diet significantly reduced microbiota diversity, and 30% casein diet decreased the abundance of Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria at the phylum, while reduced the relative abundance of Ruminococcus at the genus level compared to LP group. in the intestine of piglet. The diarrhea-related mRNA abundances were analyzed by real-time PCR, and the results showed that HP treatment markedly decreased the expression of solute carrier (SLC, P <0.05). The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway (P < 0.01) was 2 activated in the HP group. In conclusion, a high protein concentration diet induced postweaning diarrhea with decreased growth performance, increased gastrointestinal pH, and reduced expression of solute carrier proteins. However, the relationship between high dietary casein feed and post-weaning diarrhea stays unclear.

    Keywords: Dietary protein concentration, Weaned piglets, post-weaning diarrhea, Solute carrier, Gut Microbiota, mTOR signaling pathway

    Received: 10 May 2024; Accepted: 09 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Gao, Ma, Yin, Chen and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jing Gao, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Changsha, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.