Diarrhea is a major cause of reduced growth and mortality in piglets during the suckling and weaning periods and poses a major threat to the global pig industry. Diarrhea and gut dysbiosis may in part be prevented via improved early postnatal microbial colonization of the gut. To secure better postnatal gut colonization, we hypothesized that transplantation of colonic or gastric content from healthy donors to newborn recipients would prevent diarrhea in the recipients in the post-weaning period. Our objective was to examine the impact of transplanting colonic or gastric content on health and growth parameters and paraclinical parameters in recipient single-housed piglets exposed to a weaning transition and challenged with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC). Seventy-two 1-day-old piglets were randomized to four groups: colonic microbiota transplantation (CMT, n = 18), colonic content filtrate transplantation (CcFT, n = 18), gastric microbiota transplantation (GMT, n = 18), or saline (CON, n = 18). Inoculations were given on d 2 and 3 of life, and all piglets were milk-fed until weaning (d 20) and shortly after challenged with ETEC (d 24). We assessed growth, diarrhea prevalence, ETEC concentration, organ weight, blood parameters, small intestinal morphology and histology, gut mucosal function, and microbiota composition and diversity. Episodes of diarrhea were seen in all groups during both the milk- and the solid-feeding phase, possibly due to stress associated with single housing. However, CcFT showed lower diarrhea prevalence on d 27, 28, and 29 compared to CON (all P < 0.05). CcFT also showed a lower ETEC prevalence on d 27 (P < 0.05). CMT showed a higher alpha diversity and a difference in beta diversity compared to CON (P < 0.05). Growth and other paraclinical endpoints were similar across groups. In conclusion, only CcFT reduced ETEC-related post-weaning diarrhea. However, the protective effect was marginal, suggesting that higher doses, more effective modalities of administration, longer treatment periods, and better donor quality should be explored by future research to optimize the protective effects of transplantation.

中文翻译：

---

产后早期胃和结肠微生物移植对仔猪肠道健康的影响

腹泻是哺乳期和断奶期仔猪生长缓慢和死亡率下降的主要原因，对全球养猪业构成重大威胁。腹泻和肠道菌群失调可以通过改善产后早期肠道微生物定植来部分预防。为了确保更好的产后肠道定植，我们假设将健康供体的结肠或胃内容物移植到新生儿受体可以预防断奶后受体的腹泻。我们的目的是检查移植结肠或胃内容物对暴露于断奶过渡并受到产肠毒素大肠杆菌 (ETEC) 攻击的受体单舍仔猪的健康、生长参数和临床旁参数的影响。72 头 1 日龄仔猪被随机分为四组：结肠微生物群移植（CMT，n = 18）、结肠内容物滤液移植（CcFT，n = 18）、胃微生物群移植（GMT，n = 18）或盐水（CON，n = 18）。在生后第 2 天和第 3 天进行接种，所有仔猪均采用牛奶喂养直至断奶（第 20 天）以及 ETEC 攻击后不久（第 24 天）。我们评估了生长、腹泻患病率、ETEC 浓度、器官重量、血液参数、小肠形态和组织学、肠粘膜功能以及微生物群组成和多样性。在牛奶喂养和固体喂养阶段，所有组均出现腹泻，这可能是由于与单一饲养环境相关的压力所致。然而，与 CON 相比，CcFT 在第 27、28 和 29 天的腹泻患病率较低（所有 P < 0.05）。CcFT 还显示第 27 天的 ETEC 患病率较低（P < 0.05）。与 CON 相比，CMT 显示出更高的 α 多样性和 β 多样性差异（P < 0.05）。各组的生长和其他临床旁终点相似。总之，只有 CcFT 可以减少 ETEC 相关的断奶后腹泻。然而，保护作用微乎其微，这表明未来的研究应探索更高的剂量、更有效的给药方式、更长的治疗周期和更好的供体质量，以优化移植的保护作用。