THE INFLUENCE OF PROBIOTIC LACTOBACILLI AND FLAXSEED ON THE IMMUNE RESPONSE OF WEANED PIGLETS EXPERIMENTALLY INFECTED WITH ENTEROTOXIGENIC E. COLI

摘要

The weaning period of piglets is associated with nutritional, psychical, environmental and immunological stress which has a negative effect on their health and the growth of these animals and frequently results in the so-called post-weaning syndrome.This study investigated the influence of probiotic lactobacilli in the form of cheese and flaxseed as a source of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on the clinical state and immunological responses of weaned piglets experimentally infected withenterotoxigenic E. coli. The experiments were carried out on 48 clinically healthy piglets allocated into two groups, i.e., control (C) and experimental (LFA). The piglets from the LFA group were ofliered probiotic lactobacilli-containing cheese and werefed rations containing 10% crushed flaxseed starting 10 days before weaning, up to 14 days post-weaning. On day 28 of age (day of weaning), animals in both groups were infected with a single dose of enterotoxigenic E. coli and their clinical state was checked daily. The influence of the feed additives on the immune response of piglets was evaluated by the determination of their phagocytic activity and the percentages of the proportion of lymphocyte subpopulations in the peripheral blood and jejunal Peyer’s patches (CD3+, CD21-t-, CD4+, CD8-I-, CD4-I-CD8-I-). We recorded a positive influence of the combination of administered immunomodulators on the clinical state of the piglets in terms of the occurrence and duration of diarrhoea and the faecal score. Throughout the experiments we observed a significantly lower total phagocytic activity in LFA group which was related to the better clinical state of the experimental animals. In this group, we observed a significant increase in CD21+ lymphocytes in the peripheral blood on the day of weaning and 3 days post-weaning (P < 0.01). A significantly lower proportion of CD4-H lymphocytes in peripheral blood of the LFA piglets at weaning and 14 days post-weaning (P<0.01) was accompanied by a significant increase in the CD8+ subpopulation (P<0.05-P <0.01). Also the proportion of B lymphocytes in the blood and Peyer’s patches was higher in the LFA group compared to the C group piglets. Our observations of the positive effects of immunomodulators on the clinical state of the piglets allowed us to conclude that a combination of probiotic lactobacilli and flaxseed can be effectively used in prevention of the post-weaning syndrome of piglets.