Perinatal nutrition, a key factor controlling gut bacterial colonization, may have lasting
consequences on health. We investigated whether early short-chain fructooligosaccharide
(scFOS) supplementation, known to well-balance microbiota, impacted adult metabolic and
immunologic responses to a high-fat (HF) diet.
Sows received a supplementation with scFOS or not for the last 4 weeks of gestation and the
lactation. The scFOS supplementation was maintained in piglets weaned from scFOS sows till
postnatal day (PND) 56. Twenty four piglets were then fed a standard diet until PND190, then
a HF diet for 12 weeks.
Early scFOS supplementation increased faecal short-chain fatty acid production after 3 weeks
of HF diet but this effect was not observed later. Ongoing metagenomics analysis will give
more insights on microbiota composition changes. Insulin response to a glucose challenge
(IVGTT) tended to increase in scFOS group, but no other metabolic parameter was modified
(lipid metabolism, basal glycaemia and insulinemia, insulin pancreatic content). Preliminary
results showed a modulation of the pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion (IFNg , TNFa, IL-8)
by ex vivo stimulated ileal explants and MLN cells, revealing a modification of local
immunity orientation with perinatal scFOS supplementation.
Our results underline the key role of early microbiota modulation on adult responses to a
nutritional challenge
