Sodium butyrate supplementation and its influence in cecal microbial modulation

The intestinal microbiome can influence the efficiency and the health status of its host' digestive system. Indigestible non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) serve as substrates for bacterial fermentation resulting in the production of short-chain fatty acids like butyrate. In broiler's nutrition, dietary crude protein and the presence of butyrate is of special interest for its impact on intestinal health and growth performance. In this study, we evaluated the effect on the microbial ecology of the caeca of dietary supplementations, varying the cereal type (maize and wheat), adequate levels of crude protein (CP) and supplementation of sodium butyrate.The overall structure of bacterial communities was statistically affected by cereal type, crude protein, and sodium butyrate (P= 0.001). Wheat in the diet promotes the presence of Lactobacillaceae, Bifidobacteriaceae and Bacteroides xylanisolvens, that can degrade complex substrates. Maize was positively affecting the abundance of Bacteroides vulgatus. The addition of crude protein was promoting the presence of the family Rikenellaceae while sodium butyrate as feed supplement was positively related to the family Lachnospiraceae. Functional predictions showed an effect of the cereal type and a statistical significance across all supplementations and their corresponding interactions. In this study, the composition of diets affected the overall structure of broilers' intestinal microbiota. The source of non-starch polysaccharides and thereof the substrate for bacterial fermentation had a stronger stimulus on bacterial communities compared to CP content or supplementation of butyrate.

肠道微生物组（intestinal microbiome）可影响宿主消化系统的运作效率与健康状态。难以消化的非淀粉多糖（non-starch polysaccharides, NSP）可作为细菌发酵的底物，最终生成丁酸等短链脂肪酸。在肉鸡营养领域，日粮粗蛋白与丁酸的添加因其对肠道健康和生长性能的影响而备受关注。本研究评估了日粮添加方案对肉鸡盲肠微生物生态的影响，试验变量包括谷物类型（玉米与小麦）、适宜水平的粗蛋白（crude protein, CP）以及丁酸钠添加。
细菌群落的整体结构受谷物类型、粗蛋白水平与丁酸钠的显著影响（P=0.001）。日粮中添加小麦可促进乳杆菌科（Lactobacillaceae）、双歧杆菌科（Bifidobacteriaceae）以及解木聚糖拟杆菌（Bacteroides xylanisolvens）的定植，这类菌群可降解复杂底物。玉米则可提升普通拟杆菌（Bacteroides vulgatus）的丰度。粗蛋白添加可促进理研菌科（Rikenellaceae）的存在，而作为饲料添加剂的丁酸钠则与毛螺菌科（Lachnospiraceae）呈正相关。
功能预测结果显示，谷物类型对菌群功能存在影响，且所有添加方案及其交互作用均具有统计学显著性。
本研究表明，日粮组成会影响肉鸡肠道菌群的整体结构。与粗蛋白含量或丁酸添加相比，非淀粉多糖的来源及其作为细菌发酵底物的特性，对细菌群落的刺激作用更为显著。