Dietary Bacillus spp. enhanced growth and disease resistance of weaned pigs by modulating intestinal microbiota and systemic immunity

Table 3 Intestinal morphology of enterotoxigenic E. coli F18 challenged pigs fed diets supplemented with probiotics

Item^c	Control	PRO1^d	PRO2^e	SEM	P-value
Duodenum
Villi height, μm	411	439	435	20.29	0.61
Crypt depth, μm	186^b	224^a	185^b	9.19	< 0.05
Villi height: Crypt depth	2.21^ab	1.98^b	2.37^a	0.091	< 0.05
Villi width, μm	187	200	185	5.81	0.10
Villi area, μm²	92,798	94,975	99,027	4718	0.50
Goblet cell number, per villi	24.88^b	30.89^a	32.31^a	1.56	< 0.05
Total mucin area, % of villi area	6.79	7.50	9.42	1.05	0.30
Sulfomucin area, % of villi area	2.45^b	3.21^ab	4.80^a	0.66	< 0.05
Sialomucin area, % of villi area	4.33	4.29	4.61	0.47	0.90
Jejunum
Villi height, μm	479^a	434^ab	382^b	17.25	< 0.01
Crypt depth, μm	169	158	151	7.73	0.33
Villi height: Crypt depth	2.89	2.79	2.53	0.15	0.28
Villi width, μm	130	128	127	5.58	0.88
Villi area, μm²	64,543^a	59,882^ab	54,277^b	2795	0.08
Goblet cell number, per villi	15.11	15.57	16.40	0.71	0.52
Total mucin area, % of villi area	5.64^b	7.72^ab	9.39^a	1.13	< 0.05
Sulfomucin area, % of villi area	3.06	4.07	3.43	0.79	0.61
Sialomucin area, % of villi area	2.60^b	3.71^b	5.88^a	0.52	< 0.01
Ileum
Villi height, μm	340^b	386^a	340^b	14.43	< 0.05
Crypt depth, μm	161^ab	182^a	151^b	8.76	0.07
Villi height: Crypt depth	2.14	2.17	2.27	0.12	0.71
Villi width, μm	137	149	130	7.14	0.28
Villi area, μm²	56,811	65,084	55,431	3829	0.27
Goblet cell number, per villi	19.33	17.31	17.57	2.09	0.77
Total mucin area, % of villi area	9.17	8.14	7.60	1.24	0.69
Sulfomucin area, % of villi area	5.81	5.24	5.05	0.99	0.87
Sialomucin area, % of villi area	3.36	2.85	2.68	0.40	0.48
Colon
Crypt depth, μm	363	337	317	21.30	0.32
Sulfomucin area, % of villi area	40.96	42.40	44.85	2.67	0.65

ISSN: 2049-1891