Effects of Dietary Carbohydrases on Fecal Microbiome Composition of Lactating Sows and Their Piglets

Corn-soybean meal diets are commonly used in the pork industry as a primary source of energy and protein. However, such a diet generally contains non-starch polysaccharides (NSPs) which present a challenge in finding ways to improve their availability and digestibility. Dietary multi-carbohydrases (MCs) have been proposed as an efficient approach to utilize NSPs, and can result in improved growth performance and host intestinal fitness. In this study, we evaluated the effects of MC in lactation diets on gut microbiota composition of lactating sows and their litters. The experimental design contained two dietary treatments, a diet based on corn-soybean meal (CON), and CON supplemented with 0.01% multigrain carbohydrases (MCs). Sow and piglet fecal samples were collected on days 7 and 28 after farrowing. Based on the results from 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, MC led to changes in species diversity and altered the microbial compositions in lactating sows and their piglets. Specifically, the MC treatment induced an increase in the proportions of Lactobacillus in piglets. Clostridium and Spirochaetaceae showed a significantly reduced proportion in MC-treated sows at day 28. Our results support the beneficial effects of dietary carbohydrases and their link with improved production due to better host fitness outcomes and gut microbiota composition.