ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1613054
Comparison of fecal microbiota and metabolome in diarrheal piglets pre-and post-weaning
Provisionally accepted
- Key Laboratory of Applied Technology on Green-Eco-Healthy Animal Husbandry of Zhejiang Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
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Introduction: Diarrhea after weaning of piglets is one of the most serious diseases in pig herds, which brings huge economic losses to the pig industry. Diarrhea in piglets after weaning has a significant impact on the composition of gut microbiota, which leads to the disturbance of normal metabolic processes.To investigate the effects of weaning diarrhea on gut microbiota and its metabolites, 84 samples were collected from 42 piglets pre-weaning and post-weaning, including 17 samples from post-weaning diarrheal piglets. The samples were sequenced for 16S rRNA and untargeted metabolites.Results: A total of 3192 ASVs, 20 phyla, and 286 genera were identified. A total of 32 genera were detected by difference analysis between healthy post-weaning piglets and diarrhea post-weaning piglets. It was observed that post-weaning diarrhea led to a reduction in the relative abundance of Bacteroides, UCG-002, Christensenellaceae_R-7_group, Escherichia-Shigella, Pyramidobacter, Lactobacillus and a substantial increase in the relative abundance of Prevotellaceae_NK3B31_group, Muribaculaceae, Prevotella, Holdemanella, Collinsella, Blautia. A total of 360 differential metabolites were detected between healthy and diarrheal weaned piglets. 5-Hydroxyferulic acid methyl ester, D-Saccharic acid 1,4-lactone, 3-Methylhistidine were significantly enriched in post-weaning diarrheal piglets. These differential metabolites were enriched in the Nucleotide metabolism, ABC transporters, Biosynthesis of amino acids, Nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism, Valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis, Pyrimidine metabolism, Alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, Purine metabolism, Caffeine metabolism, Butanoate metabolism pathways.Discussion: Taken together, this study systematically reveals the dynamic succession and structure of the gut microbiota and metabolites in diarrhea and healthy piglets pre-weaning and post-weaning. Our findings provide a reference for the microbiological and metabolite etiology associated with postweaning diarrhea.
Keywords: Piglet, Weaning, Diarrhea, fecal microbiota, Fecal metabolites
Received: 16 Apr 2025; Accepted: 03 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Huang, Dong, Zhang, Hu, Tan, Li, Sun, Zhao and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Ayong Zhao, Key Laboratory of Applied Technology on Green-Eco-Healthy Animal Husbandry of Zhejiang Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
Min Huang, Key Laboratory of Applied Technology on Green-Eco-Healthy Animal Husbandry of Zhejiang Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
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