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Effects of a live yeast dietary supplement on fecal coliform counts and on peripheral blood CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocyte subpopulations in nursery pigs

2012; Volume: 20; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.54846/jshap/721

1537-209X

Humberto Gustavo Monroy-Salazar, Luis Salvador Pérez-Sotelo, Yolanda González, Gilberto Vaughan, Salvador Lagunas Bernabé, José Antonio Cuarón-Ibargüengoytia, Juan Antonio Montaño-Hirose, María Uxúa Alonso-Fresán, P. Pradal-Roa, Juan Carlos Vázquez-Chagoyán,

Gut microbiota and health

Objective: To assess the effects of a dietary supplement, active dry yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain NCYC Sc47; Sc47), on CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocyte subpopulations and total fecal coliform counts in nursery pigs. Materials and methods: Forty-eight nursery pigs were used in this experiment. At 35 days of age, pigs were randomly assigned to two treatments (control and yeast-supplemented groups) with 24 pigs per treatment. Blood and fecal samples were collected on study days 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42. Proportions of subpopulation of T lymphocytes (CD4+, CD4+CD8+, and CD8+) were analyzed by flow cytometry, and fecal coliform counts were performed according to standard techniques. Results: When active dry yeast was supplied as a probiotic at 0.3% in the diet of nursery pigs, total fecal coliform counts were lower and proportions of peripheral CD4+, CD4+CD8+, and CD8+ T lymphocyte subsets were higher (P < .05), when compared to those of the control group. Implications: This study shows two pathways through which Sc47 may have a positive influence on pig health. Under the conditions of this study, numbers of peripheral blood T-lymphocytes increase when Sc47 is included in the feed of nursery pigs, which may have a positive impact on animal health. Additionally, reduction of intestinal coliform numbers in nursery pigs receiving active dry yeast contributes to improving intestinal health and therefore to explaining why yeast as a feed additive may contribute to reducing the use of antibiotics as growth promoters or therapeutic agents.