The present study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary fiber on the gut health of growing pigs. In total, 30 growing pigs with an initial average body weight of 45.8 ± 2.78 kg were divided into three groups with 10 replicates per treatment, and one pig per replicate. The treatments included a corn–soybean meal-based diet (control group, 1.5% crude fiber (CF)), corn–soybean meal + beet pulp-based diet (beet pulp group, 5.74% CF) and corn–soybean meal-based diet (feed intake-pairing group (pairing group); the feed intake was equal to the beet pulp group, 1.5% CF). The whole trial lasted 28 days. The beet pulp group had a longer length of the large intestine, higher weight of the small intestine and whole intestine, greater density of the large intestine and whole intestine, and higher villus height in the jejunum and ileum than the control group (p < 0.05). The messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of epidermal growth factor (EGF), glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2), and glucagon-like peptide 2 receptor (GLP-2R) in the duodenum, EGF and GLP-2 in the jejunum, EGF in the ileum, and GLP-2 in the colon were higher in the beet pulp group than in the control group (p < 0.05). Moreover, the apparent total tract digestibility of crude ash, energy, dry matter (DM), and crude protein (CP) was lower in the beet pulp group than in the control group (p < 0.05), while the apparent total tract digestibility of CF, the activity of jejunal lactase, and the mRNA abundance of duodenal GLP-2 were higher in the beet pulp group than in the control and pairing groups (p < 0.05). In addition, the beet pulp group had more goblet cells in the colon, more Bifidobacterium spp. in the cecal digesta, higher concentrations of acetic acid and butyric acid in the cecal digesta, and higher mRNA abundance of duodenal regeneration protein Ⅲγ (REG-Ⅲγ), jejunal mucin 2 (MUC-2), and ileal G protein-coupled receptor 43 (GPR-43) than the control group (p < 0.05). However, these parameters did not differ between the control and pairing groups (p > 0.05). These findings indicate feeding a high-fiber diet (5.74% CF, obtained from beet pulp) to pigs could modulate the gut microbiota composition, increase the short-chain fatty-acid (SCFA) content in the hindgut, and improve gut health, which is independent of the feed intake.

中文翻译：

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甜菜浆：改善生长猪肠道健康的替代方法

本研究旨在研究膳食纤维对生长中猪肠道健康的影响。总共将30头初始平均体重为45.8±2.78千克的生长猪分为三组，每组治疗10头，每头猪一头。这些治疗包括以玉米-豆粕为基础的饮食（对照组，1.5％粗纤维（CF）），玉米-豆粕+甜菜粕为基础的饮食（甜菜粕组，5.74％CF）和玉米-豆粕为基础的饮食饮食（饲料摄入量配对组（配对组）；饲料摄入量等于甜菜粕组，CF为1.5％）。整个审判持续了28天。甜菜果肉组的大肠长度较长，小肠和整肠的重量较大，大肠和整肠的密度较大，p＜0.05）。十二指肠中表皮生长因子（EGF），胰高血糖素样肽2（GLP-2）和胰高血糖素样肽2受体（GLP-2R）的信使RNA（mRNA）表达水平，十二指肠中的EGF和GLP-2甜菜果肉组的空肠，回肠中的EGF和结肠中的GLP-2高于对照组（p <0.05）。此外，甜菜粕组的粗灰分，能量，干物质（DM）和粗蛋白（CP）的表观总道消化率低于对照组（p <0.05），而甜菜粕组的表观总道消化率则低于对照组。甜菜果肉组的CF，空肠乳糖酶的活性和十二指肠GLP-2的mRNA丰度高于对照组和配对组（p<0.05）。此外，甜菜果肉组在结肠中具有更多的杯状细胞，在双歧杆菌属中具有更多。在盲肠消化道中，盲肠消化道中乙酸和丁酸的浓度较高，十二指肠再生蛋白Ⅲγ（REG-Ⅲγ），空肠黏蛋白2（MUC-2）和回肠G蛋白偶联受体43的mRNA丰度更高（GPR-43）高于对照组（p <0.05）。但是，这些参数在对照组和配对组之间没有差异（p > 0.05）。这些发现表明，给猪喂食高纤维饮食（5.74％CF，从甜菜粕中获得）可以调节肠道菌群组成，增加后肠中短链脂肪酸（SCFA）的含量，并改善肠道健康，从而与采食量无关。