Revealing growth performance in weaned Tibetan pigs along with gut microbial diversity and oxidative status under the impact of ambient temperature

The physiological parameters of Tibetan piglets have been found to be significantly influenced by environmental factors particularly during the weaning period and in the context of large fluctuations in ambient temperature in plateau regions. This study was designed to examine the effects of different ambient temperatures on gut microbiota diversity, serum antioxidant status, and growth performance of weaned Tibetan piglets. The study comprised of n = 40 weaned Tibetan piglets that were randomly allocated to five temperature-controlled groups with increase in temperature as BC4 (18 °C), BD4 (22-24 °C), BE4 (25-27 °C), BF4 (28-30 °C), and BG4 (31-33 °C). The growth performance was calculated by average daily weight gain (ADG) while serum antioxidant capacity was assessed through malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) levels. Fecal samples were taken and through 16 S rRNA gene sequencing the gut microbiota profiling was checked. Microbial α- and β-diversity indices, community composition, and taxa-specific shifts were evaluated by temperature-dependent changes. Results indicated that moderate increase in ambient temperature (25 ~ 27 °C) significantly improved the growth performance with higher ADG in the BE4 group. The serum antioxidant markers SOD, T-AOC, and GSH-Px level were higher than MDA concentrations, indicating enhanced oxidative resistance. The beneficial bacterial taxa such as Paraprevotella, Limosilactobacillus, and Paralachnospira flourished and change the gut microbiota diversity and structure, whereas potentially harmful taxa (Bifidobacterium_388775 and Ligilactobacillus) were decreased at the moderate temperatures. The LEfSe and multiple t-tests determine the gut microbial ecology when temperature-dependent shifts in microbial composition indicate a regulatory effect of ambient temperature. It is concluded that the optimal growth performance and enhanced serum antioxidant capacity in weaned Tibetan piglets maintained by moderate raise of ambient temperature (25 ~ 27 °C) to support a balanced gut microbiota. These findings indicated that during the weaning period temperature played an important role in regulating oxidative status and gut microbial diversity.