Level of soluble fiber and medication influence the presence of intestinal pathogen microbiota in young rabbits.

The aim of this work was to study the effect of the level of neutral detergent soluble fiber (NDSF) and medication with 200 ppm apramycine sulphate and 120 ppm tylosine tartrate in drinking water on frequency of detection (FD) of Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium difficile and Campylobacter spp. at ileum and cecum. Three isonutritive diets (33% NDF, 20% CP, 20% starch) were formulated. Differences in NDSF were obtained by a partial substitution in the control diet of alfalfa hay (28% of inclusion and 10.3% NDSF) with either oat hulls (14.7% and 7.9% NDSF) or a mixture of sugar beet and apple pulps (15+5% and 13.1% NDSF). Eighteen rabbits/treatment weaned at 25 d were slaughtered at 35 d to collect intestinal digesta for characterizing microbiota population by restriction fragment length polymorphism. Data were analyzed by using the proc mixed of SAS including NDSF level, medication, and intestinal site as main effects and their interactions. Rabbit was considered as a random effect. Rabbits fed the lowest NDSF concentration had a higher FD of C. perfringens (39.4 vs. 24.3%; P = 0.016), Campylobacter spp. (50.0 vs. 27.8%; P = 0.001) and C. difficile (33.0 vs. 21.6%; P = 0.090) compared to diets with a higher NDSF levels. Clostridium difficile (P = 0.001) and Campylobacter spp. (P = 0.081) were more frequently detected in cecum than in ileum. Intestinal site did not affect FD of C. perfringens. Medication decreased FD of all the bacteria studied (P < 0.001). An interaction between level of NDSF and medication (P = 0.023) was detected for the FD of C. perfringens. When non-medicated rabbits were fed the low NDSF diet, they showed the highest FD of C. perfringens, but this effect was not detected with medication. In conclusion, the FD of intestinal pathogen bacteria might be partially modulated by NDSF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]