RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Effect of fosfomycin, Cynara scolymus extract, deoxynivalenol and their combinations on intestinal health of weaned piglets JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 323204 DO 10.1101/323204 A1 Guadalupe Martínez A1 Susana N. Diéguez A1 María B. Fernández Paggi A1 María B. Riccio A1 Denisa S. Pérez Gaudio A1 Julieta M. Decundo A1 Agustina Romanelli A1 Fabián A. Amanto A1 María O. Tapia A1 Alejandro L. Soraci YR 2018 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/05/15/323204.abstract AB Intestinal health of weaning piglets was studied after oral treatments with fosfomycin (FOS), Cynara scolymus extract (CSE), deoxynivalenol (DON) and their combinations. Piglets were divided in groups and received different treatments during 15 days, namely DON (1mg/kg of feed), FOS administered into the drinking water (30 mg/kg b.w.), CSE (300 g/ton of feed) and all possible combinations including a control group that received clean balanced diet. At day 15, three piglets from each group were euthanized and gastrointestinal tract samples were immediately taken to evaluate pH, bacteriology (enterobacteria and lactic acid bacteria), volatile fatty acids concentration (VFAs), disaccharidases activity (lactase, sucrase and maltase), histology (intestinal absorptive area [IAA] and goblet cells count) and adherence of bacteria to intestinal mucus. Animals receiving FOS and CSE treatments exhibited evident beneficial intestinal effects compared to animals receiving diets free from these compounds. This was revealed by a lower enterobacteria population together with a lower E/L, an enhanced production of butyric acid, an increased enzymatic activity (particularly maltase), and a greater IAA and goblet cells count along with an increase in pathogenic bacteria adherence to intestinal mucus. Interactions between both treatments resulted in similar beneficial effects as their individual administration. On the contrary, DON produced detrimental effects on intestinal health as a decrease was observed on volatile fatty acids production, enzymatic activity and goblet cells count in animals receiving diets containing sub- toxic concentrations of this mycotoxin. The knowledge of the intestinal effects of these compounds contributes to understand the physiological and pathological gut changes and their potential productive consequences.