Synergistic Effects of Multi-strain Probiotics and Chinese Herbal Medicine on Growth Performance and Gut Health in Weaned Piglets

Background: Weaning stress represents a considerable challenge in global swine production. While probiotics and Chinese herbal medicine have been extensively studied as individual interventions, their combined application as alternative feed additives in swine production requires further investigation.Methods: Forty-five weaned piglets were randomly allocated to five treatment groups (n=9 per group) for a 28-day feeding trial: control (CON), antibiotic (A), probiotic (PRO), Chinese herbal medicine (CHM), and probiotic plus Chinese herbal medicine (PROC). Growth performance, serum antioxidant levels, and immune parameters were assessed alongside 16S rRNA microbiome sequencing and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry metabolomics analysis.Results: The PROC group significantly improved growth performance compared to controls (P < 0.05), showing 8.91% higher final body weight, significantly increased average daily gain, and the most efficient feed conversion ratio (1.55) among treatments. Serum analysis indicated a significant increase in total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) in the PROC group relative to the other groups. The probiotic (PRO) and PROC groups enhanced superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities, while reducing malondialdehyde (MDA) levels (P < 0.05). Pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-2 and IL-6 were significantly reduced in the PRO and PROC groups, while immunoglobulins IgA and IgG levels were increased (P < 0.05). Microbiota analysis revealed increased a-diversity (Shannon and Chao1 indices) and altered community structure in the PROC group. Metabolomic profiling identified 5,090 metabolites with distinct profiles between groups based on OPLS-DA. KEGG pathway analysis indicated that the PRO group exhibited enrichment in nucleotide and purine metabolism, whereas the PROC group activated supplementary pathways, including purine and lipid metabolism.Conclusion: These findings suggest that combined probiotic and Chinese herbal medicine supplementation may serve as an effective feed strategy for promoting intestinal health and alleviating weaning stress, providing valuable insights for developing antibiotic alternatives in swine production.

背景：断奶应激是全球生猪生产中面临的一项严峻挑战。尽管益生菌与中草药作为单一干预手段已得到广泛研究，但二者联合应用作为生猪生产中的替代型饲料添加剂的相关研究仍有待进一步深入。
方法：本试验将45头断奶仔猪随机分为5个处理组（每组n=9），开展为期28天的饲喂试验，各组分别为：对照组（control, CON）、抗生素组（antibiotic, A）、益生菌组（probiotic, PRO）、中草药组（Chinese herbal medicine, CHM）以及益生菌联合中草药组（probiotic plus Chinese herbal medicine, PROC）。试验期间检测各组仔猪的生长性能、血清抗氧化指标与免疫参数，同时开展16S rRNA微生物组测序及液相色谱-质谱联用法（liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry）代谢组学分析。
结果：与对照组相比，PROC组的生长性能显著提升（P < 0.05）：终末体重较对照组高出8.91%，平均日增重显著提高，且饲料转化率达1.55，为所有处理组中最优。血清检测结果显示，PROC组的总抗氧化能力（total antioxidant capacity, T-AOC）显著高于其余各组。益生菌组（PRO）与PROC组可提升超氧化物歧化酶（superoxide dismutase, SOD）与谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（glutathione peroxidase, GSH-Px）活性，同时降低丙二醛（malondialdehyde, MDA）水平（P < 0.05）。PRO组与PROC组的促炎细胞因子IL-2、IL-6水平显著降低，而免疫球蛋白IgA、IgG水平显著升高（P < 0.05）。微生物组分析表明，PROC组的α多样性（Shannon与Chao1指数）显著提升，且菌群群落结构发生改变。代谢组学分析共鉴定出5090种代谢物，基于正交偏最小二乘判别分析（orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis, OPLS-DA）的结果显示各组代谢谱存在显著差异。京都基因与基因组百科全书（Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, KEGG）通路富集分析显示，PRO组的代谢通路富集于核苷酸与嘌呤代谢，而PROC组则激活了包括嘌呤代谢与脂质代谢在内的补充代谢通路。
结论：本研究结果表明，益生菌与中草药联合添加可作为一种有效的饲喂策略，促进仔猪肠道健康并缓解断奶应激，为生猪生产中开发抗生素替代方案提供了重要参考价值。