This study aimed to investigate the effects of early intervention with antibiotics and maternal fecal microbiota on ileal morphology and barrier function, and transcriptomic profiling in neonatal piglets. Piglets in the amoxicillin (AM), fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), and control (CO) groups were orally administrated with amoxicillin solution (6.94 mg/mL), maternal fecal microbiota suspension [>109 colony forming unit (CFU)/mL], and physiological saline, respectively. Compared with the CO group, early intervention with AM or FMT significantly decreased ileal crypt depth on day 7 and altered gene expression profiles in ileum on days 7 and 21, and especially promoted the expression of chemokines (CCL5, CXCL9, and CXCL11) involved in the toll-like receptor signaling pathway on day 21. FMT changed major immune activities from B cell immunity on day 7 to T cell immunity on day 21 in the ileum. On the other hand, both AM and FMT predominantly downregulated the gene expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). In summary, both early interventions modulated intestinal barrier function and immune system in the ileum with a low impact on ileal morphology and development.
Keywords: Ileal mucosa; antibiotic; fecal microbiota transplantation; neonatal pig; transcriptomic profiling.