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 of β-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/kg β-glucan, for 21 d. Compared with the control group, pigs fed with 200 mg/kg β-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 with β-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 of β-glucan in weaned pigs.