Influence of pre-, pro-, and synbiotics on the intestinal availability of different B-vitamins

Abstract

This study was conducted with 16 male growing pigs (eight pigs with an end-to-end ileo-rectal anastomosis, eight intact pigs) to investigate in metabolic trials the influence of different pre-, pro-, and synbiotics on the precaecal and faecal digestibility of thiamin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and biotin. A basic experimental diet was supplemented with either pre-, pro-, or synbiotic additives as follows: lactulose (2%), inulin (2%), mannanoligosaccharides (0.3%), Enterococcus faecium DSM 10663 (8 · 10⁹ cfu/kg), Enterococcus faecium DSM 7134 (5 · 10⁸ cfu/kg), inulin + Enterococcus faecium DSM 10663, mannanoligosaccharides + Enterococcus faecium DSM 7134. The precaecal and faecal digestibilities of the investigated B-vitamins were not affected significantly by the administered pre-, pro-, and synbiotics independent of the application period. A higher faecal vitamin excretion vs. the precaecal indicated that thiamin and biotin were synthesized in the colon. On the contrary, for riboflavin and pantothenic acid a higher precaecal vitamin flow compared to the faecal excretion was detected indicating to a certain extent an absorption in the colon.

Keywords:

• B-vitamins
• lactulose
• inulin
• mannanoligosaccharides
• Enterococcus faecium
• intestinal availability

Acknowledgements

The authors express their appreciation to W. Erhardt, and J. Henke (Institut für Onkologie und Therapieforschung, Arbeitsgruppe Experimentelle Chirurgie, Technische Universität München, Germany) for their help with the surgical procedures. This work was supported by Bayerische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Tierernährung e.V. (BAT), Freising-Weihenstephan.