The Effect of Fermentable Carbohydrates on Experimental Swine Dysentery and Whip worm Infections in Pigs

Two diets with contrasting fermentability were formulated. Diet 1 containing resistant carbohydrates was based on triticale, barley, rapeseed cake as the main ingredients supplemented with grass clover silage. Diet 2 containing fermentable carbohydrates was based on triticale, barley, blue lupines and dried grinded chicory roots. The two diets were fed to seventy-two pigs tested negative for T. suis and swine dysentery were divided into 8 groups (A-H) according to weight and sex as follows: Group A: Diet 1, T. suis and B. hyodysenteriae; Group B: Diet 2, T. suis and B. hyodysenteriae, Group C: Diet 1, B. hyodysenteriae; Group D: Diet 2, B. hyodysenteriae, Group E: Diet 1, T. suis; Group F: Diet 2, T. suis; Group G: Diet 1, control, and Group H: Diet 2, control. The pigs were fed according to weight once a day. After two weeks of diet adaptation, pigs in group A, B, E, and F inoculated with 2000 infective T. suis eggs each and pigs in group A, B, C, and D were challenged with 1 x 109 colony-forming units of B. hyodysenteriae each on three consecutive days. Group G and H were uninfected control groups. The pigs were weighed every other week and monitored daily for clinical symptoms. Faecal samples were collected twice a week to monitor the cause of dysentery. The faecal samples were cultured selectively for the presence of B. hyodysenteriae as well as scored according to consistency (normal, loose, watery/mucoid, and bloody diarrhoea), which was utilized as a measure of clinical disease. All pigs were slaughtered 6 weeks post infection (p.i.) over a course of 5 days. At slaughter a faecal sample was collected for examination of T. suis eggs and a macroscopic pathological examination was performed on each pig. Tissue samples were taken from the anterior part of the colon for histopathological examinations. The large intestine was divided into caecum and 5 colon sections. The sections were emptied and weighed and pH was measured in the contents of each section. Samples were taken from the contents for chemical analyses. The remaining contents were used for recovery of T. suis. T. suis were not found at slaughter and no B. hyodysenteriae were isolated from any of the control pigs in group G and H. No clinical signs of dysentery were found in pigs experimentally challenged with B. hyodysenteriae that were receiving Diet 2 (Group B and D). Likewise, no bacteria were isolated from faeces in any of these pigs. In contrast, clinical symptoms of dysentery were observed in all experimentally B. hyodysenteriae pigs fed Diet 1 (Group A and C, except 1 pig in Group A) and similarly the bacteria were found in faeces of all these pigs at different times during the experiment starting from 6 days p.c. There was no difference in worm counts between any of the T. suis infected groups (Group A, B, E, and F). The lowest worm burdens, however, were found in the pigs fed Diet 2 (Group B and F). The frequency of swine dysentery was lower in pigs with dual infections, but consistent throughout the course of the study. Pigs only infected with B. hyodysenteriae, on the other hand, had higher frequency of clinical symptoms, but only over a period of 2 weeks from 9 days to 23 days p.c. The weight gain did not differ significantly between the groups, but was lowest in pigs with clinical swine dysentery (Group A and C). Diet 2 prevented completely the occurrence of swine dysentery in both experimentally infected groups (A and C) presumably because of rapid fermentation of non-digestible carbohydrates constituents; galactans from lupins and fructans from chicory

Serum enterolactone concentrations are low in colon but not in rectal cancer patients

Abstract The dietary lignan metabolite, enterolactone, has been suggested to have anti-cancer functions, and high serum enterolactone concentrations have been associated with decreased risk of breast and prostate cancers. We hypothesized that serum enterolactone concentrations as a marker of plant-based foods are associated with decreased risk in colorectal cancer (CRC). We measured serum enterolactone glucuronide and sulfate concentrations by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in 115 CRC patients and 76 sex- and age-matched controls and analyzed the results with respect to tumor parameters, clinical parameters, and systemic inflammatory markers. Patients with colon cancer had significant lower serum enterolactone glucuronide and sulfate concentrations than controls (glucuronide: median 3.14 nM vs. 6.32 nM, P < 0.001; sulfate: median 0.13 nM vs. 0.17 nM, P = 0.002), whereas rectal cancer patients had similar enterolactone levels as controls (glucuronide: median 5.39 nM vs. 6.32 nM, P = 0.357; sulfate: median 0.19 nM vs. 0.17 nM, P = 0.452). High serum enterolactone concentrations were associated with low tumor grade, high serum creatinine levels, and concomitant diabetes. In summary, our results suggest that serum enterolactone concentrations are decreased in colon but not in rectal cancer. Further investigations are required to assess whether this reflects an altered lignan metabolism by the colon microbiome

Postprandial PYY increase by resistant starch supplementation is independent of net portal appearance of short-chain fatty acids in pigs

Abstract Increased dietary fiber (DF) fermentation and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production may stimulate peptide tyrosine-tyrosine (PYY) secretion. In this study, the effects of hindgut SCFA production on postprandial PYY plasma levels were assessed using different experimental diets in a porto-arterial catheterized pig model. The pigs were fed experimental diets varying in source and levels of DF for one week in 3×3 Latin square designs. The DF sources were whole-wheat grain, wheat aleurone, rye aleurone-rich flour, rye flakes, and resistant starch. Postprandial blood samples were collected from the catheters and analyzed for PYY levels and net portal appearance (NPA) of PYY was correlated to NPA of SCFA. No significant effects of diets on NPA of PYY were observed (P &gt; 0.05), however, resistant starch supplementation increased postprandial NPA of PYY levels by 37 to 54% compared with rye-based and Western-style control diets (P = 0.19). This increase was caused by higher mesenteric artery and portal vein PYY plasma levels (P &lt; 0.001) and was independent of SCFA absorption (P &gt; 0.05). The PYY levels were higher in response to the second daily meal compared with the first daily meal (P &lt; 0.001), but similar among diets (P &gt; 0.10). In conclusion, the increased postprandial PYY responses in pigs fed with different levels and sources of DF are not caused by an increased SCFA absorption and suggest that other mechanisms such as neural reflexes and possibly an increased flow of digesta in the small intestine may be involved. The content of DF and SCFA production did not affect PYY levels