Effects of dietary supplementation of Lactobacillus reuteri postbiotics on growth performance, intestinal flora structure and plasma metabolome of weaned piglets

A single-factor experimental design was implemented to perform a 30-day animal trial in the breeding farm of New hope about in Zhenyuan, Guizhou, China. And the experimental protocol and management of the pigs were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of New Hope Liuhe Co., Ltd., (Chengdu, China). The code for ethical inspection was IAS 2023-32. A total of 816 healthy male weaned piglets with uniform body weight were randomly divided into control group (CTR) and Lactobacillus reuteri postbiotics group (LAC). There were 6 replicates in each treatment and 68 piglets in each replicate. Piglets in the control group were fed the basic diet, and the diet formula was formulated according to the NRC-2012 nutritional requirements standard for piglets. Piglets in the LAC group were fed with the basic diet supplemented with 500 mg/kg Lactobacillus reuteri postbiotics purchased form Hubei Lan Good microbial Technology Co., Ltd, Yichang, Hubei, China. During the animal trial, all piglets were free to feed and water, and the routine immunization procedures were carried out according to the requirements of the farm. The number of piglet deaths during the animal trial was recorded and all piglets were weighed at the end of the trial as well as the feed consumption was measured. At the same time, two pig from each replicate group was selected to collect blood from the anterior vena cava for the detection of antioxidant-related indexes and metabolome. Fresh feaces were collected to investigate the intestinal flora structure and the levels of short-chain fatty acids.