Studies on dietary microbial programming in sows and their piglets and the susceptibility to early-life Clostridium difficile infection

• Applicant: Lukasz Grzeskowiak, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Animal Breeding, Animal Nutrition, Animal Husbandry
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 393175545

For more than a decade Clostridium difficile (CD) has been documented as a major cause of uncontrolled enteritis outbreaks in neonatal pigs. CD colonises the piglet gut early after birth and infection occurs only in suckling piglets. Maternal factors such as sow-offspring microbiota association and sow milk may be important determinants predisposing piglets to spontaneous C. difficile infections (CDI). Therefore, the hypothesis of this project is that the early microbial programming in suckling piglets and thereby susceptibility to CDI is modified by the mothers microbiota. This hypothesis will be addressed in two approaches: i) studying the mechanisms for CDI susceptibility and resistance of the new-born piglet and ii) studying the effects of dietary intervention in the mother on the sow-offspring microbial association and colonisation of piglets with CD. In the first part of the project, a series of in vitro and ex vivo experiments will be performed. The reaction of porcine intestinal epithelial cells in the presence of CD toxins and the possible protective effect of sow milk will be studied. Additionally, the reaction of colon tissues against CD toxins will be studied in experiments with Ussing chambers. In the second part of the project, diets containing high- and/or low-fermentable fibre will be fed to sows to verify aspects studied during the first part of the project. Besides the influence on nutrient composition and CD toxin-neutralising antibodies in the sow milk, a focus will be laid on faecal microbiota, immunological parameters and shedding of CD and toxins in sows and their piglets. Intestinal contents and tissues from suckling piglets will be assessed for changes in host physiology. The results from this part will provide insight into the nutritional effects on the sows microbial ecosystem and its impact on the intestinal microbiota development in neonatal piglets and the susceptibility to CDI, which will broaden our knowledge on CDI in pigs at the interface between animal health and nutrition.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants