The Effect of Postbiotic Supplementation on Body Weight Changes, Blood Metabolic Profiles, Rumen Microbiome Changes, and Immune Responses in Dairy Calves
Limited information exists about the effects of postbiotic supplementation (dried Lactobacillus Fermentation Product) on animal performance, blood metabolites, immune responses, and changes in the rumen microbiome in pre- and post-weaning dairy calves. This study aims to clarify how postbiotic supplementation (in non-viable cells) affects growth performance, blood metabolites, rumen microbiome dynamics, immune response, and immune-related gene expression in pre-weaned dairy calves over a 95-day period. The experiment involved 30 male healthy pre-weaned Holstein (Bos taurus) calves (5 days old, weighing 40 - 50 kg), randomly divided into three groups. The control group received no postbiotics (preferred as a control [0.0 mg]), while the other groups received 1.75 g/d and 3.5 g/d postbiotic supplements in their diet for 50 days (period I). During the post-weaning period, calves in the control group received increasing postbiotic doses (0.0%, 3.5 g/d, and 7.0 g/d per calf) for 45 days, for a total of 95 days of the study (period II). Calves were housed individually in pens with free access to water. Data were analyzed using the Mixed procedure of SAS (version 9.4). Results showed that, with postbiotic supplementation, animal body weight and cell-mediated immune response were significantly higher in the higher-dose group than in the control group (P < 0.01). Dry matter intake (DMI) did not differ among treatments. An increase (P < 0.05) was observed in Ca, blood urea (mg/dL), glucose, and lymphocyte (%) with higher postbiotic doses. Among bacterial phyla, Bacteroidetes decreased (P < 0.05) in the higher-dose group compared with the control group, whereas Pseudomonadota increased (P < 0.05). Most bacterial and methanogen species remained unchanged across treatments. Immune cells from the blood of supplemented calves showed increased expression of TNF-α, IL-6, and IFN genes. In conclusion, postbiotic feeding improved animal health, strengthened immune responses, caused minor changes in rumen microbiome diversity, and affected blood chemistry in dairy calves compared to controls.
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