Effect of Lactobacillus brevis ATCC 8287 as a feeding supplement on the performance and immune function of piglets

Lactobacillus brevis ATCC 8287, a surface (S-layer) strain, possesses a variety of functional properties that make it both a potential probiotic and a good vaccine vector candidate. With this in mind, our aim was to study the survival of L. brevis in the porcine gut and investigate the effect of this strain on the growth and immune function of recently weaned piglets during a feeding trial. For this, 20 piglets were divided evenly into a treatment and a control group. Piglets in the treatment group were fed L. brevis cells (1 × 1010) daily for three weeks, whereas those in the control group were provided an equivalent amount of probiotic-free placebo. For assessing the impact of L. brevis supplementation during the feeding trial, health status and weight gain of the piglets were monitored, pre- and post-trial samples of serum and feces were obtained, and specimens of the small and large intestinal mucosa and digesta were collected at slaughter. The results we obtained indicated that L. brevis-supplemented feeding induced a non-significant increase in piglet body weight and caused no change in the morphology of the intestinal mucosa. L. brevis cells were found to localize mainly in the large intestine, but they could not be isolated from feces. To a lesser extent, L. brevis was detected in the small intestine, although there was no specific attachment to the Peyer's patches. Changes in total serum IgG and IgA concentrations were not caused by supplemented L. brevis and no measurable rise in L. brevis-specific IgG was observed. However, analysis of cytokine gene expression in intestinal mucosa revealed downregulation of TGF-β1 in the ileum and upregulation of IL-6 in the cecum in the L. brevis-supplemented group. Based on the results from this study, we conclude that whereas L. brevis appears to have some intestinal immunomodulatory effects, the ability of this strain to survive and colonize within the porcine gut appears to be limited.