PSII-27 Dietary fiber fractions supplementation modulates pro-inflammatory cytokines, hindgut ammonia-nitrogen concentration, and diarrhea severity of nursery pigs

Abstract Dietary fiber may functionally modulate the intestinal health of pigs depending on the content of dietary fiber fraction (DFF). The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of DFF based on soluble dietary fiber (SDF) and insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) ratio on growth performance, blood parameters, hindgut ammonia-nitrogen concentrations, and diarrhea severity (fecal consistency score, FCS) of nursery pigs. Mixed-sex pigs (n = 200) with an average body weight (BW) of 7.56 ± 0.86 kg were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design, with 5 pigs per pen and 8 pens per treatment. Pigs were fed a basal diet (BD, containing 8.80% IDF and 0.70% SDF), or the BD diet supplemented with dietary fiber to provide an additional 2% DFF to provide SDF and IDF, from inulin and lignocellulose, respectively, in ratios of 1:1 (DFF1), 1:3 (DFF2), 1:5 (DFF3), and 1:7 (DFF4) for 28 d. Overall, there were no dietary effects on ADFI, ADG, and F:G (P > 0.05). Compared with the BD diet, there was no overall effect of DFF on blood parameters, except for reduced plasma interleukin (IL) -6 and IL-1β concentrations (P < 0.05). Plasma IL-6 was reduced in DFF1 by 20.1%, while plasma IL-1β was reduced in DFF2, DFF3, and DFF4 by average 20% (P < 0.05). Decreasing SDF:IDF ratio increased plasma urea nitrogen (P < 0.05) and tended to decrease plasma myeloperoxidase (P < 0.10) in a quadratic manner. Amongst all treatments, pigs fed DFF1 or DFF2 diet had the least plasma content of superoxide dismutase while pigs fed DFF3 had the greatest (P < 0.05). Pigs fed DFF, regardless of SDF:IDF ratio, had reduced cecal and colonic ammonia-nitrogen compared with BD (P < 0.01). Overall, FCS was reduced by DFF compared with BD (P < 0.001). Decreasing SDF:IDF ratio reduced FCS in a quadratic manner (P < 0.05). The results indicate that 2% DFF supplementation with inulin and lignocellulose, regardless of the SDF:IDF, modulated pro-inflammatory cytokines, hindgut ammonia-nitrogen concentration, and diarrhea severity in nursery pigs.