Abstract
Deoxynivalenol (DON), also known as vomitoxin, has a high detection and exceeding rate in feed and is prone to causing symptoms such as loss of appetite, weight loss, vomiting, and diarrhoea in animals, which brings great harm to the aquaculture industry. The common mycotoxin adsorbents have low adsorption rates for DON, and the use of biological methods to remove DON in feeds has gradually become a research trend. One hundred and twenty crossbred barrows were randomly divided into four groups, which included the normal diet group (CON), normal diet + detoxifier group (Det), DON-polluted diet group (DON), and DON-polluted diet + DON detoxifier group (DON + Det); the experiment lasted for 28 d. The results showed that, compared with piglets fed a normal diet, those piglets fed DON-polluted diets significantly decreased their average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) during the 1-14 d and 1-28 d periods; the content of immunoglobulin G (IgG), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), interleukin-4 (IL-4), and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in serum was decreased; and the content of aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), malondialdehyde (MDA), diamine oxidase (DAO), and endotoxin (LPS) was increased in pigs fed DON-polluted diets; meanwhile, feeding piglets DON-polluted diets significantly reduced the levels of acetic acid, propionic acid, and total short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) as well as gut microbiota health index (GMHI) in piglet faeces, but increased the relative abundance of Treponema, Prevotellaceae_UGG-001, Lachnospiraceae_XPB1014_group, Frisingicoccus and Sphaerochaeta. In contrast, the addition of a composite detoxifier effectively ameliorated the reduction in ADG and ADFI in piglets caused by DON-polluted diets. It suppressed the reduction in CAT, SOD, GSH-PX, IL-4, and IL-10 and the elevation of TNF-α, IL-2, IL-6, IL-12, MDA, LPS, and DAO in serum; the composite detoxifier also restrained the decrease in SCFA in piglet faeces and increased the relative abundance of Ruminococcus, Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, Lachnospiraceae_AC2044_group, UCG-009, and Eubacterium_siraeum_group bacteria. The composite detoxifier effectively mitigated the adverse effects of a DON-polluted diet on piglet growth performance, blood biochemical indices, and gut microbiota composition.