Protective effects of Bacillus licheniformis on growth performance, gut barrier functions, immunity and serum metabolome in lipopolysaccharide-challenged weaned piglets

Xiaorong Yu; Zhenglie Dai; Guangtian Cao; Zhenchuan Cui; Ruiqiang Zhang; Yinglei Xu; Yanping Wu; Caimei Yang

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1140564

Protective effects of Bacillus licheniformis on growth performance, gut barrier functions, immunity and serum metabolome in lipopolysaccharide-challenged weaned piglets

Front Immunol. 2023 Mar 22:14:1140564. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1140564. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xiaorong Yu¹, Zhenglie Dai¹, Guangtian Cao², Zhenchuan Cui¹, Ruiqiang Zhang¹, Yinglei Xu¹, Yanping Wu¹, Caimei Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Zhejiang Agricultural and Forestry University, Hangzhou, China.
² College of Standardisation, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Bacillus licheniformis (B. licheniformis) is a well-accepted probiotic that has many benefits on both humans and animals. This study explored the effects of B. licheniformis on growth performance, intestinal mucosal barrier functions, immunity as well as serum metabolome in the weaned piglets exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). One hundred and twenty piglets weaned at four weeks of age were separated into two groups that received a basal diet (the control group, CON), and a basal diet complemented with B. licheniformis (500 mg/kg, the BL group, BL). Twenty-four piglets were chosen from the above two groups and 12 piglets were injected with LPS intraperitoneally at a concentration of 100 μg/kg and the others were injected with sterile saline solution of the same volume. All the piglets were sacrificed 4 h after LPS challenge. Results showed that B. licheniformis enhanced the ADG and final body weight and lowered the F/G and diarrhea rate. Pre-treatment with B. licheniformis markedly attenuated intestinal mucosal damage induced by LPS challenge. Supplementation with B. licheniformis strengthened immune function and suppressed inflammatory response by elevating the concentrations of serum immunoglobulin (Ig) A and jejunum mucosal IgA and IgG and decreasing serum IL-6 and jejunum mucosal IL-1β. In addition, B. licheniformis pretreatment prevented LPS-induced intestinal injury by regulating the NLRP3 inflammasome. Furthermore, pretreatment with B. licheniformis tended to reverse the reduction of acetate and propionic acids in the colonic contents that occurred due to LPS stress. B. licheniformis markedly modulated the metabolites of saccharopine and allantoin from lysine and purine metabolic pathways, respectively. Overall, these data emphasize the potentiality of B. licheniformis as a dietary supplement to overcome the challenge of bacterial LPS in the animal and to enhance the food safety.

Keywords: Bacillus licheniformis; growth performance; gut barrier functions; immunity; lipopolysaccharides; serum metabolome.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Bacillus licheniformis*
Diet
Dietary Supplements
Humans
Lipopolysaccharides* / pharmacology
Swine
Weaning

Substances

Lipopolysaccharides

Grants and funding

We are very grateful for the support of the Zhejiang Provincial Key Research and Development Program (2021C02008; 2022C02043; 2022C02059), the Zhejiang Provincial Leading Innovation and Entrepreneurship Team Project (2020R01015), and the Zhejiang Key Agricultural Research Institute of Green Animal Health Products Project (2021Y30004). The authors declare that this study received funding from Zhejiang Vegamax Biotechnology Co., Ltd. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication.