Bacillus-based probiotic supplementation improves serum antioxidant capacity and gut health in PEDV-infected piglets

This experiment investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with probiotic GutPlus® Virsorb (GV) on systemic antioxidant capacity and gut health in piglets infected with Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV). A total of 72 crossbred (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) weaned piglets (21 days of age, 5.51 ± 0.44 kg) were randomly divided into: the CON1 group (negative control, basal diet), the CON2 group (positive control, basal diet), and the GV group (basal diet + 500 g/t GV). At 28 days of age, piglets in the CON2 and GV groups were challenged with oral inoculation with 40 mL PEDV (8.58 × 10⁸ copies/mL), whereas the CON1 group received an equivalent volume of DMEM medium. The experiment lasted until 60 days of age. Probiotic GV significantly enhanced systemic antioxidant capacity, as evidenced by elevated serum SOD activity and reduced MDA levels. Concurrently, GV effectively promoted gut health by alleviating ileal damage (improved villus architecture), reducing viral load and shedding, and reshaping the gut ecosystem. The latter included enriching beneficial bacteria (Lactobacillus, Limosilactobacillus, Phascolarctobacterium_A), reducing potentially harmful bacteria (Desulfovibrio_R), and increasing beneficial metabolites such as indolelactic acid and pinocembrin. In summary, probiotic GV supplementation alleviates PEDV infection in piglets by concurrently boosting host antioxidant defenses and restoring multiple facets of gut health. These findings support the potential of GV as a dietary strategy to enhance host resilience specifically against PEDV infection in weaned piglets.