PSVII-9 - Influence of lactose and milk oligosaccharides in whey permeate on jejunal mucosa-associated microbiota in nursery pigs during 7 to 11 kg BW

This study aimed to evaluate supplemental effects of milk carbohydrates in whey permeate on jejunal mucosa-associated microbiota in nursery pigs during 7 to 11 kg BW. A total of 720 pigs at 7.5 kg BW were allotted to 6 treatments (6 pens/treatment and 20 pigs/pen). Treatments were 6 levels of whey permeate supplementation (0, 3.75, 7.50, 11.25, 15.00, and 18.75%) and fed to pigs for 11 d. On d 11, 36 pigs representing median BW of each pen were euthanized to collect the jejunal mucosa to evaluate microbiota in the jejunum by 16S rDNA sequencing. Data were analyzed using contrasts in MIXED procedure of SAS. Whey permeate contained 76.3% lactose and 0.4% milk oligosaccharides. Increasing whey permeate supplementation from 0 to 18.75% did not affect the alpha-diversity estimates of microbiota. Whey permeate supplementation tended to decrease (P = 0.073, 1.59 to 1.22) Firmicutes:Bacteroidetes compared with no addition of whey permeate. Increasing whey permeate supplementation tended to linearly increase Bifidobacteriaceae (P = 0.089, 0.73 to 1.11), decrease Enterobacteriaceae (P = 0.091, 1.04 to 0.52), decrease Stretococcaceae (P = 0.094, 1.50 to 0.71), and caused quadratic changes (P < 0.05) on Lactobacillaceae (maximum: 9.14% at 12.91% whey permeate). Increasing whey permeate supplementation caused a quadratic change (P < 0.05) on Lactobacillus_Salivarius (maximum: 0.92% at 7.35% whey permeate) and tended to cause quadratic changes on Lactobacillus_Rogosae (P = 0.083; maximum: 0.53% at 8.45% whey permeate) and Lactobacillus_Mucosae (P = 0.092; maximum: 0.70% at 6.98% whey permeate). In conclusion, supplementation of whey permeate as sources of lactose and milk oligosaccharides at a range from 7 to 13% seems to be beneficial to nursery pigs by increasing the abundance of lactic acid-producing bacteria in the jejunal mucosa.