A water-soluble β-glucan improves growth performance by altering gut microbiome and health in weaned pigs

Beta-glucan has been shown to have a beneficial effect on gastrointestinal health.This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects ofβ-glucan isolated from Agrobacterium sp.ZX09 on growth performance and intestinal health of weaning pigs.A total of 108 weaned pigs(21 d of age;6.05±0.36 kg)were randomly divided into 3 groups(6 pens/group;6 pigs/pen),and the groups were each treated with the following diets:1)basal diet,2)basal diet supplemented with 20 mg/kg olaquindox,3)basal diet supplemented with 200 mg/kgβ-glucan,for 21 d.Compared with the control group,pigs fed with200 mg/kgβ-glucan had greaterBW,average daily gain and duodenal villus height to crypt depth ratio(P<0.05).Olaquindox increased the duodenal or jejunal villus height of pigs compared withβ-glucan.Compared with the control group,β-glucan tended to increase the occludin mRNA expression in the jejunum(0.05<P<0.10).Beta-glucan enriched the beneficial microbiota in the ileum of pigs(P<0.05).In conclusion,β-glucan may promote growth performance by improving intestinal health and increasing beneficial microbiota of weaned pigs.The study results will provide valuable theoretical guidance for the utilization ofβ-glucan in weaned pigs.