Effect of maternal seaweed extract supplementation on suckling piglet growth, humoral immunity, selected microflora, and immune response after an ex vivo lipopolysaccharide challenge

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of maternal dietary supplementation (n = 10 sows/treatment) with seaweed extract (SWE: 0 vs. 10.0 g/d) from d 107 of gestation until weaning (d 26) on neonatal piglet growth, humoral immunity, intestinal morphology, selected intestinal microflora, and VFA concentrations. Furthermore, this study examined the effect of dietary treatment on the immune response after an ex vivo Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) tissue challenge at weaning in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement. The main factors consisted of sow dietary treatment (SWE or control) and immunological challenge (yes or no). The SWE supplement (10.0 g/d) contained laminarin (1.0 g), fucoidan (0.8 g), and ash (8.2 g) and was extracted from a Laminaria spp. The SWE-supplemented sows had greater colostrum IgA ( P < 0.01 ) and had a trend for greater IgG ( P = 0.062) concentrations compared with non-SWE-supplemented sows. Piglets suckling SWE-supplemented sows had greater serum IgG ( P < 0.05) concentrations on d 14 of lactation compared with those suckling non-SWE-supplemented sows. Dietary SWE supplementation decreased fecal Enterobacteriaceae populations in sows at parturition ( P < 0.05), and piglets suckling SWE-supplemented sows had a decreased colonic E. coli population at weaning ( P < 0.01) compared with non-SWE-supplemented sows. Lipopolysaccharide challenge increased the mRNA abundances of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1 alpha and IL-6 ( P < 0.01) in ileal tissue and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in colonic ( P < 0.01) tissue. There was a treatment x LPS challenge interaction for ileal TNF-alpha mRNA expression ( P < 0.05). Piglets suckling SWE-supplemented sows had greater TNF-alpha mRNA expression after ex vivo LPS challenge compared with non-SWE-supplemented sows ( P < 0.05). However, there was no effect of sow dietary treatment on TNF-alpha mRNA expression in the unchallenged ileal tissue. Piglet BW at birth and weaning, and small intestinal morphology were unaffected by sow dietary treatment under current experimental conditions. In summary, these results demonstrate an important immunomodulatory role of SWE supplementation characterized by enhanced colostral IgA and IgG concentrations, greater piglet circulatory IgG concentrations on d 14 of lactation, and enhanced TNF-alpha mRNA expression in the ileum after an ex vivo LPS challenge. These results indicate that SWE supplementation enhanced piglet immune function and colonic microflora at weaning.