Effects of feeding a combination of probiotics containing Lactobacillus plantarum and Bacillus subtilis on immune response and diarrhea incidence in post-weaning piglets

Abstract

A study investigated the effects of a mixture of Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) and Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) on diarrhea incidence, immune response, and fecal microflora counts in post-weaning piglets. One hundred 28-day-old piglets were randomly assigned to five treatment groups: negative control (NC), free of antibiotics; positive control (PC), 0.03% chlortetracycline; LB 1, a mixture of L. plantarum and B. subtilis (LB) 0.5 kg/ton feed; LB 2, LB 1.0 kg/ton feed; and LB 3, LB 2.0 kg/ton feed. Diarrhea scores for LB 2 and LB 3 from the 2nd week were significantly reduced compared to NC (P < 0.05). In terms of the level of IgG and IFN-γ, all treatment groups were significantly higher than NC (P < 0.05), and the IgG level of LB 3 was significantly higher than that of PC (P < 0.05). Furthermore, fecal lactic acid bacteria (LAB) counts for LB 2 and LB 3 were significantly higher than those of NC and PC (P < 0.05). In addition, fecal Enterobacteriaceae (ENT) counts for PC, LB 2 and LB 3 were significantly lower than those of NC (P < 0.05). Based on the results from this study, it was concluded that a combination of L. plantarum and B. subtilis strains could be used as potential alternatives to antibiotics to prevent diarrhea incidence in piglets.