Dietary supplementation with fermented wheat bran improves the inflammatory state and intestinal health in pigs

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding fermented wheat bran (FWB) on growth performance, antioxidant activity, inflammatory status, and intestinal microbiota in Min pigs. A total of seventy-two castrated Min pigs were randomly divided into 3 treatments, each with four replicates pens and six pigs per pen. The treatment groups were as follows: (1) C (a corn-soybean meal basal diet, 100 g/kg wheat bran (WB)), (2) T5 (basal diet with 50 g/kg WB and 50 g/kg FWB), (3) T10 (basal diet with 100 g/kg FWB). The results showed that there was no significant difference in growth performance among groups (P > 0.05). The plasma levels of immunoglobulin and anti-inflammatory factors were higher and the levels of pro-inflammatory factors were lower in Min pigs fed FWB (P < 0.05). Compared with C group, the levels of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were significantly increased in the T5 group, and the level of methane dicarboxylic aldehyde (MDA) was significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Significant increases in the relative gene expression of intestinal development (EGF, IGF-1, and IGF-1R) and barrier (OCLN) were observed in the T5 group (P < 0.05). The intestinal integrity of pigs fed FWB was better than pigs fed C diet. Additionally, dietary supplementation with FWB improved the composition of the intestinal microbiota. T5 treatment had higher relative abundance of Terrisporobacter, Turicibacter, Romboutsia, and Blautia (P < 0.05) than that of the C treatment. Meanwhile, the relative abundance of Streptococcus and Muribaculaceae in the T5 group was decreased significantly (P < 0.05). Collectively, Min pig inflammatory and antioxidant status, intestinal development and health indicators were sustained improved when in-feed WB was replaced by FWB.