Impact of Probiotics on Intestinal Microbial Community Diversity of Growing Rex Rabbits

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of Lactobacillus on growth performance, serum metabolite, the number of mast cells and microbial community diversity of growing Rex Rabbits. A total of 120 rabbits weaned at age of 30 days were randomly divided into four groups. The control group was fed on basal diet only. The group I was fed on basal diet with antibiotics (Zinc Bacitracin), and group II and III were fed on basal diet adding Lactobacillus zeae (LB1) and Lactobacillus rhamnosus (L3) respectively. The results obtained were as follows: feed to gain ratio (F/G) of the rabbits fed with Lactobacillus isolates was significantly lower than that of control group (P<0.05). The diarrheal incidence from group I to III was 20%, 23.3% and 30% respectively which was significantly lower than that of control group (36.7%). The concentration of alanine amiotransferase (ALT) was significantly lower (P<0.05) when rabbits were fed with Lactobacillus isolates LB1 and L3. Meanwhile, the concentration of IgG and IgM increased significantly (P<0.05). Lactobacillus isolates had no influence on the number of mast cells in jejunum and duodenum (P > 0.05) but increased the number of mast cells in caecum significantly (P<0.05). The analysis of Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus PCR (ERICPCR) indicated that Lactobacillus isolates can adjust the intestinal microbial community diversity of growing rabbits. In conclusion, the application of Lactobacillus isolates LB1 and L3 all can increase the growth performance, enhance the immunologic function and adjust the intestinal microecosystem of growing Rex Rabbits.