Balance of the sows digestive flora: stakes & perspectives

On Friday, November 23, Lallemand Animal Nutrition and ISPAIA, the French Institute for Animal Production and Agro Industry, hold a technical meeting dealing with the nutrition and health issues around sow’s farrowing, the cornerstone of pig production cycles.

The event focused on the importance of a balanced digestive microflora and the unique potentials of probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii, for which research and development have been driven by human applications for over 50 years.

This technical event gathered around 150 international professionals of pig production and animal health and nutrition, generating great opportunities to challenge concepts and generally held belief on pig production practices.

The objective of the meeting, as Dr Yannig Le Treut, Commercial Director for Lallemand summarized, being to “ open up our minds and perspectives, discuss new ideas and concepts for pig production, rather than giving out successful recipes.”

The challenges of modern pig production

Over the past ten years, pig production in Europe has faced a revolution. Amongst all changes, the EU ban on antibiotic growth promoters and increased sows prolificacy have had a dramatic impact at farm level. As Prof Ken Mellits, Professor of Virology at the University of Nottingham, explained in a presentation about piglet neonatal diarrhea, increased litter size and heterogeneity have lead to higher peri-natal mortality rates. Prof Mellits described a recent emergence of Clostridium difficile associated diarrheas in the UK. This is to be linked, he said, to decreased piglet sizes at birth, but also the withdrawal of antibiotic as growth promoters and changes in piglets diet. These last elements most certainly induce modifications of the gut microflora, increasing piglets sensitivity to the pathogen.

Longer farrowing processes also lead to decreased colostrum quality for the last piglets born. It appears that, in recent years, the importance of colostrum quality has been largely overlooked. In a presentation about sow’s behavior during peripartum and colostrum quality, Dr Nicolas Devillers, from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, analyzed the various factors determining colostrum quantity and quality, in particular its antibody content. He stressed out the negative impact of sows behavior, environment, and litter size heterogeneity on colostrum intake and quality.

Farming practices were also looked at by Prof. Guy-Pierre Martineau, from Toulouse Veterinary School. In a vivid presentation about functional pathologies, Prof Martineau pointed out the impact of the so-called “too-well doing job syndrome”, and antibiotic therapies on the appearance of functional diarrhoeas in piglets, via, again, possible modifications of the gut microflora.

Finally, increased attention was drawn to the role of stress factors on sow’s health. Beyond sow’s ethology, the influence of stress is perceived on sow’s digestive health. Until now, little was known of sow’s gut transit. In an original study of sow’s gut transit dynamic presented by Antoine Grannec, from La Coop Fédérée (Québec), it was shown that sow’s transfer to nursery building prior to farrowing halted their digestive transit. Researcher Dr Nicola Walker, of the BRI laboratory in Montreal (Lallemand/Institut Rosell), who studied the sow’s faecal microflora populations with genetic analysis methods, showed that the stress generated by farrowing had a direct influence on the sow’s microflora populations.

Saccharomyces boulardii yeast: from man to pig

A rather unique story in medicine, Saccharomyces boulardii has been largely used in human since the 1950s, in particular for the prevention of antibiotic associated diarrheas, before being applied to animals. Thanks to this peculiar route, the research concerning this probiotic and its modes of action in the gut are well described (over 150 scientific publications) and, for once, pig medicine benefits from human medicine!

Prof Jacques Goulet, of Laval University, in Quebec, exposed the probiotic concept and the special place of S. boulardii yeast in a world dominated by bacteria (other probiotics used in man and animal are bacteria). Indeed, contrarily to bacteria, S. boulardii is not affected by antibiotics, hence its potential in antibiotic associated diarrhea, where most antibiotics have a deleterious effect on the gut friendly bacteria. S. boulardii yeast is able to prevent intestinal infections by various pathogens, such as E. coli, C. difficile or Salmonella. This is due to its capacity to specifically bind those pathogens, preventing their colonization of the gut surface. The probiotic is also able to neutralize C. difficile toxins, limiting their effects in the gut. Prof Ken Mellits underlined the potential of S. boulardii in preventing C. difficile infections in piglets, as well as rotavirus infections, an other important cause of piglet diarrhea.

Other studies have shown S. boulardii’s ability to stimulate the production of IgA, the antibody specialized in safeguarding the gut mucosa. In vitro research also showed that S. boulardii promotes gut wall development and maturation. The applications of S. boulardii yeast to answer some of the challenges of pig production have been illustrated throughout the day.

In Grannec’s original study of digestive transit dynamic, it was shown that sows transit around farrowing was more regular with the live yeast. The impact of stress on sow’s transit was reduced. In a new, on-going study, he is now looking at further characterizing the effects of S. boulardii on sow’s transit, but also feed efficacy, milk quality and sow’s reproductive functions. Preliminary results showed that the probiotic effect was linked to the diet composition: S. boulardii was all the more efficient since the diet was low in fibers. Finally, if some of the effects of S. boulardii are well described, in particular those linked to its human applications, we are just beginning to foresee its potential in pig production.

Conclusions: of the importance of equilibriums

To conclude the seminar, all agreed to the importance of equilibrium around and inside the animal. Following the recent changes in the pig industry, the role of the digestive microflora is finally gaining momentum. As we realize its importance, we also discover the limits of our knowledge.

New technologies, such as DNA fingerprinting and other powerful genetic analysis tools are very promising. These technologies have proven successful in studying the rumen microflora, giving a better understanding of ruminant microflora populations, their functions and the influence of various factors.

As we start to apply them to monogastrics, the face of pig nutrition is bound to change, with more interest drawn to nutrition and the interaction of the feed components with the microflora, but also animals environment, stress factors and behavior. In this context, the ability of S. boulardii to restore and maintain a the sow’s digestive balance, offering a protection against pathogens or the effects of stress, while improving the feed efficacy, offers great potential for pig production.

Dr Yannig Le Treut concluded the seminar by encouraging the actors of pig industry to rethink farming practices, taking on a global approach to pig production.

Reporting on Lallemand Saccharomyces boulardii technical meeting: “Balance of the sows digestive flora: stakes & perspectives”.

About Lallemand
Lallemand, Inc. is a privately owned Canadian company specialized in yeast, bacteria and yeast derivatives, for animal nutrition, baking, winemaking and pharmaceutical industries. Lallemand is the only major supplier of yeast and bacteria that is a primary producer of both.
Lallemand Animal Nutrition is dedicated to the development, production, and marketing of profitable, natural and differentiated solutions for animal nutrition and health. Our core products are live bacteria for probiotics and silage inoculants, specific yeast for probiotics, and high value yeast derivatives.
Lallemand is a major supplier of probiotics and silage inoculants in Europe, North America and Africa. We also have a growing presence in Asia and South America.

About Levucell® SB
Levucell®SB contains the proprietary yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii I-1079, produced by Lallemand. In sows, it is documented for its ability to enhance feed efficacy and feed intake, significantly decreasing sows weight loss during lactation. It does also significantly increase litter growth rate as well as piglets survival before weaning. Levucell SB is authorized in Europe as a zootechnical feed additive in sows and piglets under the number E1703 (Regulation 2036/2005).