Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and microbiome in pigs
Is there a connection?
By Robert Valeris-Chacin
Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M. hyopneumoniae) is a well-known bacterium in swine production because its effects in the herd translate into significant economic losses. Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae causes a chronic respiratory disease in pigs, characterized by temporary dry cough and increased susceptibility to other respiratory infectious agents.
Even though researchers have made significant advances in understanding the ecology and transmission of M. hyopneumoniae in the swine herd, many unknowns remain.
While at graduate school, I had the great opportunity to work with Dr. Maria Pieters’ team, a world-renowned expert in M. hyopneumoniae. We joined forces with other experts at the University of Minnesota, industry and veterinary practitioners to shed some light on one of the many unknowns: does the microbiome facilitate or hinder M. hyopneumoniae infection in pigs?
The microbiome is the various communities of microorganisms present in a specific location (for instance, in the pig's skin, in the barn's flooring, etc.). The microbiome living in pigs has many essential functions. For example, the intestinal microbiome (the most studied microbiome in pigs) helps digest feedstuff and prevents harmful bacteria from attaching to the gut.
In comparison, little is known about the respiratory microbiome.
Therefore, we designed a study to get answers about the role of the respiratory microbiome during the early infection with M. hyopneumoniae. We could detect differences in the respiratory microbiome of pigs with and without M. hyopneumoniae infection. Unexpectedly, those changes were not only present in the trachea and bronchi, where M. hyopneumoniae causes damage, but also in the nose, pharynx, and larynx.
There is much excitement about these types of results. The microbiome holds the key (or one of the keys, at least) to a future where we depend less on antibiotics.
The reader may be familiar with probiotics as a way to help mitigate gut infections. Developing probiotics to manage respiratory diseases will become possible as we gain a deeper understanding of the respiratory microbiome.
In turn, using efficacious probiotics (or other products to modulate the microbiome, such as prebiotics) will significantly improve antibiotic stewardship, since treating respiratory infections is one of the primary reasons driving antibiotic use in pigs.
I am confident that microbiome research will further pig health and production in the United States and the rest of the world.
Valeris-Chacin is an assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology at Texas A&M University.