Probiotics mediated gut microbiota diversity shifts are associated with reduction in histopathology and shedding of Lawsonia intracellularis

Table 1 Experimental design

Treatment group	Number of pigs	Feed information (administered for the entire study duration)	Key events
Treatment group	Number of pigs		Vaccination 3 weeks of age − 28 dpc^b	Challenge 7 weeks of age 0 dpc	Necropsy 9 weeks of age 16 dpc
T01-LAW	10	Base diet + Bacillus amyloliquefaciens^a	None	Lawsonia intracellularis challenge using a gut homogenate	Ileum content collection for this study
T02-LAW	10	Base diet + Bacillus licheniformis^a	None
T03-LAW	10	Base diet + Bacillus pumilus^a	None
VAC-LAW	10	Base diet only	Commercial vaccine administration^c
POS-CONTROL	20	Base diet only	None
NEG-CONTROL	10	Base diet only	None	None

^a Supplemented in the feed mill with 1 × 10¹² colony forming units (CFU) of the respective Bacillus strain
^b Day post Lawsonia intracellularis challenge
^c Enterisol® Ileitis, Boehringer Ingelheim, serial number 3040187B, via the oral route by drenching 2 ml of the vaccine, reconstituted as per manufacturer’s instructions, into the mouth of each pig

ISSN: 2524-4671