ISSUE FOCUS 46 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE June 2025 ANTINUTRIENTS IN FEED AND THEIR EFFECTS ON IMMUNITY, PRODUCTIVITY AND HEALTH OF SWINE Dr. Jeru Abelilla-Mesina Technical Manager for Swine dsm-firmenich Animal Nutrition & Health Antinutrients of most concern in piglet diets include allergens in feed raw materials, mycotoxins, peptidoglycans and undigested nutrients. Mycotoxins can weaken the gut barrier, induce inflammation, reduce vaccine efficacy, raise the risk of infection and potentially impair bone development. Peptidoglycans from dead bacteria can induce inflammation and block nutrient absorption both of which negatively affect growth. Undigested nutrients and allergenic proteins can lead to poor nutrient absorption, inflammation and gut imbalance all of which can impair growth performance. Diet formulation during early life is critical to future growth outcomes because the mucosal immune system and digestive capacity of pigs does not mature until around 8 weeks of age. During this period, and especially around the time of weaning, piglets are highly susceptible to external stressors, including from antinutrients in the diet. Responding to these stressors requires nutrients and energy which are redirected away from growth, impacting on performance. THE EARLY LIFE PERIOD Gut development is rapid during the first 3 days of life (small intestine weight, length and diameter increase by around 70%, 24% and 15%, respectively). However, the gut mucosal immune system and transition from passive to active immunity do not reach full maturity until 8 weeks of age. This means that the immune system is immature when piglets are weaned at 3-4 weeks of age. During this time, they are highly susceptible to external stressors that can impact negatively on growth, as illustrated in Figure 1. In particular, the change from milk to solid food leads to a shift in the composition of the gut microbiome – from a milk-oriented microbiome to a glycan-orientated microbiome. This is accompanied by a loss of microbial diversity which creates opportunities for pathogens (such as Escherichia coli) to become established, leading to inflammation and diarrhoea. Gastrointestinal dysfunction in piglets may also involve what is commonly referred to as leaky gut syndrome. This is characterized by hyper-permeability of the intestinal epithelium resulting from disruption of tight junctions between epithelial cells. This compromise in barrier integrity allows translocation of antigens, toxins, and pathogens, triggering a cascade of inflammatory cytokines. At farm level, piglets exhibit weight loss, reduced feed intake, poor feed efficiency and diarrhoea.
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