Data_Sheet_1_Early-Life Intervention Using Exogenous Fecal Microbiota Alleviates Gut Injury and Reduce Inflammation Caused by Weaning Stress in Piglets.docx

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) could shape the structure of intestinal microbiota in animals. This study was conducted to explore the changes that happen in the structure and function of microbiota caused by weaning stress, and whether early-life FMT could alleviate weaning stress through modifying intestinal microbiota in weaned piglets. Diarrheal (D) and healthy (H) weaned piglets were observed, and in the same farm, a total of nine litters newborn piglets were randomly allocated to three groups: sucking normally (S), weaned at 21 d (W), and early-life FMT + weaned at 21 d (FW). The results demonstrated that differences of fecal microbiota existed in group D and H. Early-life FMT significantly decreased diarrhea incidence of weaned piglets. Intestinal morphology and integrity were improved in the FW group. Both ZO-1 and occludin (tight junction proteins) of jejunum were greatly enhanced, while the zonulin expression was significantly down-regulated through early-life FMT. The expression of IL-6 and TNF-α (intestinal mucosal inflammatory cytokines) were down-regulated, while IL-10 (anti-inflammatory cytokines) was up-regulated by early-life FMT. In addition, early-life FMT increased the variety of the intestinal microbial population and the relative amounts of some beneficial bacteria such as Spirochaetes, Akkermansia, and Alistipes. Functional alteration of the intestinal microbiota revealed that lipid biosynthesis and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis were enriched in the FW group. These findings suggested that alteration of the microbiota network caused by weaning stress induced diarrhea, and early-life FMT alleviated weaning stress in piglets, which was characterized by decreased diarrhea incidence, improved intestinal morphology, reduced intestinal inflammation, and modified intestinal bacterial composition and function.

粪便菌群移植（Fecal microbiota transplantation，FMT）能够塑造动物肠道菌群的结构。本研究旨在探究断奶应激对菌群结构和功能所引起的变化，以及早期生命阶段的FMT是否通过调节断奶仔猪的肠道菌群来缓解断奶应激。观察了腹泻（D）和健康（H）断奶仔猪，在同一农场中，共九窝新生仔猪被随机分配到三个组：正常哺乳（S）、21天断奶（W）和早期生命阶段FMT + 21天断奶（FW）。结果显示，D组和H组之间存在粪便菌群的差异。早期生命阶段的FMT显著降低了断奶仔猪的腹泻发生率。FW组的肠道形态和完整性得到改善。通过早期生命阶段的FMT，空肠中的紧密连接蛋白ZO-1和occludin得到显著增强，而 zonulin的表达则显著下调。IL-6和TNF-α（肠道黏膜炎症细胞因子）的表达被下调，而IL-10（抗炎细胞因子）的表达则通过早期生命阶段的FMT得到上调。此外，早期生命阶段的FMT增加了肠道微生物群落的多样性，并提高了某些有益细菌如螺旋体、阿克曼氏菌和艾利斯氏菌的相对含量。肠道菌群的机能变化表明，FW组中脂质生物合成和氨基酰-tRNA生物合成得到富集。这些发现表明，由断奶应激引起的菌群网络改变导致腹泻，而早期生命阶段的FMT通过降低腹泻发生率、改善肠道形态、减少肠道炎症和调节肠道细菌组成和功能，从而缓解了仔猪的断奶应激。