Effect of probiotic and prebiotic inclusion in weaned piglet diets on structure and ultra-structure of small intestine

Forty-four piglets weaned were distributed in a complete randomized blocks in factorial scheme. Experimental diets were: T1 = Basal Diet (BD); 72 = BD + Antibiotic; T3 = BD + Probiotic; T4 = BD + Prebiotic; T5 = BD + Symbiotic (T3+T4). As control, four piglets were slaughtered at weaning. Seven and 14 days after weaning, four animals per treatment were slaughtered. Small intestine segments were sampled from each animal for electron and light microscopy evaluation. The evaluated micro-ingredients affected intestinal histology. It was observed higher villous density in duodenum of piglets fed diet with prebiotic in relation to those fed diets with probiotic. In jejunum of piglets fed diets with prebiotic was found higher villous density, but this difference was not significant. In relation to BD, symbiotic increased duodenal micro-villous height at the 14(th) day after weaning. Piglets supplemented with probiotic had better recovering of micro-villous density in relation to those fed with other diets.