Different types of dietary fiber (DF) play important roles in enhancing intestinal health and overall performance in animals. This study investigated the effects of high-DF diets containing different ratios of soluble to insoluble dietary fiber (SDF:IDF) on growth performance, intestinal barrier integrity, microbiota, and metabolite profiles in weaned piglets. The four dietary treatments consisted of a basal diet (CON) and three high-DF diets withSDF:IDF ratios of 0.37, 0.25, and 0.13 (designated HF-0.37, HF-0.25, and HF-0.13, respectively). On days 14 and 28, colonic tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8 concentrations were higher in the HF-0.37 group than in the CON, HF-0.25, and HF-0.13 groups (P<0.05). Plasma D-lactate and endotoxin levels were lower in the HF-0.25 group compared to the CON group at both time points (P<0.05). Furthermore, colonic zonula occludens 1 expression was upregulated in the HF-0.25 and HF-0.13 groups compared to the CON and HF-0.37 groups on day 14 (P<0.05). At the transcriptional level, all three high-DF diets modulated signaling pathways associated with inflammation and immune responses in the colon. Notably, DF supplementation particularly the HF-0.25 diet upregulated coloniclevels of 3-indole butyric acid, nicotinic acid, and 3-methylthiopropylamine on d 14 and reduced certain peptide levels by d 28. These findings indicate that DF supplementation, especially at an SDF:IDF ratio of 0.25, exerts beneficial effects on intestinal integrity in weaned piglets, potentially mediated by alterations in colonic metabolite profiles, whereas HF-0.37 and HF-0.13 exhibited limited impacts on intestinal barrier function.

CRISPR/Cas12a  /  isothermal amplification  /  SNP detection  /  BMPR1B  /  FecB^B mutation  /  sheep