The constant interaction between diet and intestinal barrier has a crucial role in determining gut health in pigs. Hermetia illucens (HI) meal (that represents a promising, alternative feed ingredient for production animals) has recently been demonstrated to influence colonic microbiota, bacterial metabolite profile and mucosal immune status of pigs, but no data about modulation of gut mucin dynamics are currently available. The present study evaluated the effects of dietary HI meal inclusion on the small intestinal mucin composition of piglets, as well as providing insights into the cecal microbiota and the mucosal infiltration with immune cells. A total of 48 weaned piglets were randomly allotted to 3 dietary treatments (control diet [C] and 5% or 10% HI meal inclusion [HI5 and HI10], with 4 replicate boxes/treatment and 4 animals/box) and slaughtered after 61 days of trial (3 animals/box, 12 piglets/diet). The cecal microbiota assessment by 16S rRNA amplicon based sequencing showed higher beta diversity in the piglets fed the HI-based diets than the C (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the HI-fed animals showed increased abundance of Blautia, Chlamydia, Coprococcus, Eubacterium, Prevotella, Roseburia, unclassified members of Ruminococcaceae, Ruminococcus and Staphylococcus when compared to the C group (FDR < 0.05). The gut of the piglets fed the HI-based diets showed greater neutral mucin percentage than the C (P < 0.05), with the intestinal neutral mucins of the HI-fed animals being also higher than the sialomucins and the sulfomucins found in the gut of the C group (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the piglets fed the HI-based diets displayed lower histological scores in the jejunum than the other gut segments (ileum [HI5] or ileum and duodenum [HI10], P < 0.05). Dietary HI meal utilization positively influenced the cecal microbiota and the small intestinal mucin dynamics of the piglets in terms of selection of potentially beneficial bacteria and preservation of mature mucin secretory architecture, without determining the development of gut inflammation. These findings further confirm the suitability of including insect meal in swine diets.

中文翻译：

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日粮 Hermetia illucens 膳食添加对断奶仔猪盲肠微生物群和小肠粘蛋白动力学和免疫细胞浸润的影响。

饮食和肠道屏障之间的持续相互作用在决定猪的肠道健康方面起着至关重要的作用。Hermetia illucens (HI) 粉（代表生产动物的一种有前途的替代饲料成分）最近已被证明会影响猪的结肠微生物群、细菌代谢物谱和粘膜免疫状态，但目前尚无关于调节肠道粘蛋白动力学的数据. 本研究评估了日粮 HI 餐对仔猪小肠粘蛋白组成的影响，并提供了对盲肠微生物群和免疫细胞黏膜浸润的见解。共有 48 头断奶仔猪被随机分配到 3 个日粮处理组（对照日粮 [C] 和 5% 或 10% HI 膳食添加 [HI5 和 HI10]，4个重复盒/处理和4只动物/盒）并在试验61天后屠宰（3只动物/盒，12头仔猪/日粮）。通过基于 16S rRNA 扩增子的测序进行的盲肠微生物群评估显示，喂食 HI 日粮的仔猪的 β 多样性高于 C（P < 0.001）。此外，与 C 组相比，HI 喂养的动物表现出 Blautia、衣原体、Coprococcus、Eubacterium、Prevotella、Roseburia、Ruminococcaceae、Ruminococcus 和 Staphylococcus 的未分类成员的丰度增加（FDR < 0.05）。喂食 HI 日粮的仔猪肠道中性粘蛋白百分比高于 C（P < 0.05），HI 喂养动物的肠道中性粘蛋白也高于C组（P < 0.05）。此外，喂食 HI 日粮的仔猪在空肠的组织学评分低于其他肠道段（回肠 [HI5] 或回肠和十二指肠 [HI10]，P < 0.05）。在选择潜在有益细菌和保存成熟的粘蛋白分泌结构方面，日粮 HI 膳食的利用对仔猪的盲肠微生物群和小肠粘蛋白动力学产生了积极影响，但并未确定肠道炎症的发展。这些发现进一步证实了在猪日粮中添加昆虫粉的适用性。在选择潜在有益细菌和保存成熟的粘蛋白分泌结构方面，日粮 HI 膳食的利用对仔猪的盲肠微生物群和小肠粘蛋白动力学产生了积极影响，但并未确定肠道炎症的发展。这些发现进一步证实了在猪日粮中添加昆虫粉的适用性。在选择潜在有益细菌和保存成熟的粘蛋白分泌结构方面，日粮 HI 膳食的利用对仔猪的盲肠微生物群和小肠粘蛋白动力学产生了积极影响，但并未确定肠道炎症的发展。这些发现进一步证实了在猪日粮中添加昆虫粉的适用性。