It has been frequently applied during piglets' weaning which is accompanied by oxidative stress, barrier disfunction, and disturbance of intestinal microflora, which then can be responsible for villi atrophy, growth retardation, and diarrhea ( 2). ZnO has been used as antibacterial agent in conventional monogastric breeding zootechnical systems for many years ( 1). This review is aimed at clarifying many circumstances that may affect the action of nanoparticles on the weaning piglets' microbiome, including a comprehensive overview of the zinc nanoparticles in vitro effects on bacterial species occurring in the digestive tract of weaned piglets.

This makes it difficult to understand the effect of zinc nanoparticles on the intestinal microbiome. In addition, zinc nanoparticles vary in their morphology and properties based on the method of their synthesis. Contradictory evidence makes this topic still controversial, however. These phenomena have been also confirmed by in vitro studies that reported a strong antimicrobial effect of zinc nanoparticles against Lactobacillales order. While ZnO increases their numbers, zinc nanoparticles act in the opposite way. However, the effect on probiotic Lactobacillaceae appears to differ for ZnO and zinc nanoparticles. Like ZnO, zinc nanoparticles are effective against pathogenic microorganisms, e.g., Enterobacteriaceae family in vitro and in vivo.

Some studies have suggested that zinc nanoparticles might replace ZnO for the prevention of diarrhea in weaning piglets. Therefore, pig farmers are looking for other solutions. Since 2022, the use of zinc in medical doses has been banned in the European Union. The scientific community is closely monitoring the replacement of antibiotics with doses of ZnO in weaned piglets. 2Department of Animal Morphology, Physiology and Genetics, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czechia.

1Department of Animal Nutrition and Forage Production, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czechia.Daria Baholet 1 †, Sylvie Skalickova 1 †, Andrej Batik 2, Svetlana Malyugina 1, Jiri Skladanka 1 and Pavel Horky 1 *

28 weeks later megashare